Overwatch Competitive Play S2 is live and a new map too

It seems like only yesterday when Competitive Play launched in Overwatch, but now Season 2 is here and with it comes some tweaks to the formula, based on the heavy amounts of feedback from players during Season 1. Check out some of the major changes:

• Skill Rating Changes: Player ratings will be measured from 1 to 5000; this expanded scale should give players more detail about how their skill rating changes on a game-by-game basis. We’re also implementing skill rating decay; now, players with a skill rating above 3000 will need to stay active in order to maintain their status.

• Skill Tiers: We’re introducing seven discrete skill tiers. Depending on their skill rating, players will fall into one of these tiers, but climbing into the next tier is possible as they improve:

Bronze: 1–1499

Silver: 1500–1999

Gold: 2000–2499

Platinum: 2500–2999

Diamond: 3000–3499

Master: 3500–3999

Grandmaster: 4000–5000

• Grouping Restrictions: Players will be unable to group if they have a skill rating difference of more than 1000 from their potential group mates. However, in the Master and Grandmaster tiers, the difference will need to be less than 500.

There are plenty of other changes including steeper penalties for those who quit matches and much more over on the official blog.

On top of all that, a new map called Eichenwalde has gone live as well for Xbox One and PC players (PS4 players can expect the map to become available soon). It’s a hybrid map, which means you’ll need to capture a point before escorting the payload. Check out the video of the new map below!

Overwatch is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC – check out our review of the competitive multiplayer beast here!