Blizzard has announced that Overwatch players will soon need to download the entire game again, even if they have always been patched.
Forum post announces reinstallation: Community Support Drakuloth has posted in the official Overwatch forum stating that Overwatch will soon self-reinstall. The post comes early so that people can prepare for it.
The next Overwatch patch will be “too complex”
Why do I need to reinstall? According to Drakuloth, the next major patch for Overwatch is significant. The changes being made by Blizzard are described as “substantial enough” that they cannot simply be placed over the current structure as a patch.
Instead, Overwatch is to be completely reinstalled. Players do not need to configure anything special. According to Drakuloth, the client will self-download and install Overwatch completely.
On PC, Overwatch is already 25 GB for some players. This size is also due to updates and game files such as saved highlights. For the new download, approximately 14 GB will likely need to be downloaded (roughly the original size).
When will the update arrive? A specific time has not yet been mentioned. According to Drakuloth, the reinstallation will simply come “with the next major patch.”
It is possible that this is already the patch that will introduce the new hero Ashe. Since Ashe is already playable on the Overwatch PTR, the new patch may come in just a few weeks.
Do Xbox and PS4 players also need to reinstall? Drakuloth did not specify exactly which platforms will be subject to the reinstallation. It is therefore assumed that it will affect PC, Xbox, and PS4.
Whether personal settings such as mouse sensitivity or individual key bindings will be reset is not yet known.
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In one of the upcoming patches, there will also be a change to Doomfist. Doomfist is likely to receive a nerf soon.
