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Blizzard Yanks Competitive Play Ahead Of Overwatch's Open Beta
The newly introduced mode designed for hardcore fans will be sitting out this week's open beta.
In a post on Battle.net, Blizzard game director Jeff Kaplan explained that Overwatch's Competitive Play mode will not be featured in the open beta, and will not be brought back until sometime after the game launches. Kaplan says that the studio received a lot of feedback on the mode during the closed beta and is temporarily pulling it from the game to, "rework the system and make it better."
Competitive Play is meant as a destination for Overwatch's more serious players, allowing them to rank up through a series of tiers and divisions over month-long seasons, similar to Heroes of the Storm or Hearthstone. In its initial state, players needed to reach level 25 before they could even participate in Competitive Play in the first place, so its exclusion from the weeklong open beta isn't all that significant. However, the fact that it won't be returning until after launch suggests the mode may be undergoing significant changes.
Overwatch launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on May 24. The open beta is currently available to those who have pre-ordered the game; everyone else can hop in starting on May 5, and play for free until May 9.
[Source: Battle.net]
Our Take
Blizzard excels at creating highly
polished and highly replayable experiences, and that takes a lot of time and
effort. If Blizzard felt Competitive Play wasn't up to snuff in its current
form, I'm sure they had their reasons, and I look forward to seeing what changes
they institute after launch.
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