Overwatch Patch Adds New Map, Weekly Brawl, Expands Play of the Game

Blizzard Entertainment’s closed beta for Overwatch has received a new patch, roughly 1.5 GB, which adds a ton of new features to the game.

These include an expansion of Play of the Game to include different kinds of “moments”, comparing with others to find the best; the new Highlights which are essentially clips that players will receive once finishing the match with up to five stored in a single session; a new map with Route 66; and a new mode called Weekly Brawl which creates a different custom game with varying rules (similar to Tavern Brawl from Hearthstone). Though it’s on a weekly rotation, the mode will change daily during the closed beta.

That’s not all. Players will also now receive an experience bonus when completing multiple matches together. Joining a match in progress no longer nets you a loss if you fail but it will grant a win if you succeed in turning things around (along with additional EXP). Be wary though – leaving a match in progress grants a loss to your record and doing so continuously results in a penalty to EXP gained in future matches.

Check out the full patch notes here – there’s certainly a lot to go through with changes and balances to heroes also made.