The Overwatch 2 developers have revealed more details about the game’s new ping system that players will get the opportunity to try out once the beta releases in April.
One of the major features the original Overwatch lacked was a ping system – something quite critical in such a team-based game that requires immense amounts of communication.
While Overwatch did have a communication wheel to assist those without microphones, it did nothing to help with target acquisition – something Overwatch 2’s ping system hopes to rectify.
In a developer blog post, the team delved into this new feature and how it will change the way Overwatch is played.
Overwatch 2 ping system details revealed
A key component of a ping system is being able to alert teammates to an enemy’s location. As explained by systems designer Gavin Winter, this will now be possible without the use of voice chat.
“One of our goals was to augment speech and give people a way to visually interpret voice communication. We also wanted to support all voices and create a system to communicate for players that would prefer to avoid voice chat,” he said.
As an example given, with the press of a button, a Tracer player can activate a ping depending on where they’re aiming. If you were to ping an enemy Reaper, for example, players would hear Tracer call out the foe’s location.
While his location would be known, if he were to use an ability such as Shadow Step, to break line of sight, the ping would only show his last known location.
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“A ping can be ‘stuck’ to a hero while they are visible, and the ping shows the last known location when they aren’t visible,” Winter said.
Overwatch 2 ping wheel opinions
Furthermore, by holding down the ping button, a communication wheel-like menu will appear in which players can say where they’re attacking, defending, grouping up and more.
Luckily, the feature is built to keep toxicity to a minimum, so it also makes sense that those who over-ping can be muted.
“If you don’t like a person pinging so much, you have the option to turn the ping system off through block or squelch for that specific person. We do have heavy spam protection right now that we are open to adjusting, but we really want to see what works best for the community,” Winter explained.
More options are expected to be added to the ping system too, so expect it to be improved upon significantly even after the beta is out.
If you want to try out the new ping feature, new maps, modes and a new hero, be sure to sign up for the Overwatch 2 beta now, as it goes live on April 26.
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