With Overwatch set to make its Nintendo Switch debut later this month, the game's director Jeff Kaplan responded to IGN after being asked that question we've all been wondering about. That is, "Which Overwatch character will join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?"

Of course, the decision is totally up to Nintendo - but the cross-universe potential means it's simply too good of an idea not to happen. Which is probably why Kaplan's response was more of a pitch.

"To the Smash Brothers team, whatever character you want, we love them all. They’re all our babies, you can have any single one of them. We have 31 to choose from."

Though once pushed to pick one, he did put forward everyone's favourite speedster Tracer. Which he then referred to as the game's mascot, as Tracer appears on most Overwatch promotional material and even esports logos.

If the decision were left to us, and there's no universe where that's even a possibility, we'd pick Hanzo. If only to weed out all the Hanzo mains, and put and end to the madness once and for all.

Jokes aside, D.Va.

In a decisive victory over the Vancouver Titans, the Shock swept through the Grand Finals match 4-0. This year the Overwatch League Grand Finals took place in front of a sell-out crowd at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia - with millions more tuning in around the world.

The Shock, led by winner of the league’s 2019 MVP award Jay “Sinatraa” Won predicted a victory and delivered in spades. Though in the world of esports, and sports, this is to be expected. Still, it was quite the victory.

You can watch the highlights from the Grand Final below.



San Francisco Shock's victory marks the end of the Overwatch League’s 2019 season, with the action now put on hold until it picks up again in 2020.

With the Overwatch Bastion’s Brick Challenge live from now until October 1. The event is pretty straight forward too, simply win games and then be rewarded with a new player icon, new sprays, and a new Legendary skin. LEGO Brick Bastion. Hit the jump for details and shots of Brick Bastion.

Plus, watch participating Twitch streams to get even more Bastion love.

PLAY TO EARN

Your wins in Quick Play, Competitive Play, or Arcade will earn you a new player icon, new sprays, and a new Legendary skin: Brick Bastion!

• Win three games: two new player icons
  
• Win six games: two new sprays
  
• Win nine games: new Legendary skin – Brick Bastion

WATCH TO EARN

Watch participating Twitch streamers to unlock even more Bastion cosmetics through 1 October AEST/NZST!

• Watch two hours: one new spray
  
• Watch four hours: two new player icons
  
• Watch six hours: two new player icons and two new sprays

And now, here's Brick Bastion.

After speculation, rumour, and a branded carry case - it's finally official. Blizzard is bringing Overwatch to the Nintendo Switch with Overwatch Legendary Edition. Which, in addition to featuring all modes, maps, heroes, and so forth - will also arrive with Switch-specific controls. As in motion controls.

That we can already see disabling in the options. Ahem. As per the announcement trailer below we do get to see gameplay footage of Overwatch running on Nintendo Switch hardware. And, yeah, it looks great. With the vibrant art style and animation proving to be a great fit for the handheld hybrid.



“Overwatch brings players together to co-operate and compete in a bright and optimistic vision of the future, and we’re looking forward to welcoming Nintendo Switch gamers into the fun,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “The Legendary Edition includes more than three years’ worth of content updates and gameplay enhancements, and we’re excited to team up with Nintendo to provide players with new ways to enjoy the full Overwatch experience—including on the go.”

Overwatch Legendary Edition for Nintendo Switch will be available for $69.95 AUD on October 16.

Namely an officially licensed Overwatch branded Nintendo Switch carry case, approved for sale by both Nintendo and Blizzard. A retail release that quickly had it's image removed after appearing online. As listed on Amazon. So the question then becomes, why release an Overwatch carry-case if Overwatch ain't on the switch?

The answer to that - and the one that makes the most sense - is that Blizzard is planning on bringing the game to the platform. Maybe. Possibly. Even though in the past the studio has stated that the Switch hardware might not be up to the task.

That said, Overwatch is one of the most well optimised titles currently on PC - where you don't need a monster of a card to easily get frame-rates in excess of 100 fps.

Anyway, back to the carry-case. Before it's mysterious appearance and then disappearance, the Internet's own Wario64 grabbed the following product images.

Overwatch-themed Nintendo Switch case (PowerA) listed on Amazon https://t.co/5pceXbSUrZ

"Officially Licensed by Nintendo and blizzard entertainment" pic.twitter.com/yfK0YzmLuN

— Wario64 (@Wario64) August 26, 2019

So then, Overwatch for the Nintendo Switch. It sounds pretty good. Worthy of its own officially licensed carry-case. And hey, Diablo 3 on the Nintendo Switch turned out brilliantly.

The eccentric astrophysicist who can manipulate gravity is now live in Overwatch across all platforms as part of the latest game update. A new patch that also introduces Role Queue, the new overhaul to how players will matchmake and queue for both Competitive and Quick Play. Which essentially involves choosing a role - tank, support, or damage.

And then that limits what character you can play based on the class selected. Also, it means team composition will always include two heroes from each role. Competitive Play will see a shake-up to the whole ranking system as a result of the change, which will now cover the three roles separately. It's a pretty major update to the game, one that Blizzard will no doubt be monitoring very closely. For full details, head here.

In regards to Sigma, in addition to excellent character cinematic we got for his big reveal, we've now got a new trailer showcasing his in-game abilities.



Both Role Queue and Sigma are now live on Overwatch across PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Which is saying a lot. 30 characters is nothing to sneeze at (unless you're Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). Blizzard just revealed their newest Overwatch playable character in the tantalisingly-named "eccentric astrophysicist", Sigma and no, this is not the next season of the Bachelor Australia (I deplore knowing that reference and joke, but such is the life of a footy fanatic who watches Foxtel.

Part Doc Ock, Doctor Doom, Isaac Clarke and Professor Farnsworth, Overwatch's latest combatant brings with him a backstory that reflects the recent change in the game's meta, albeit mentally.

Peek inside the mind of an eccentric astrophysicist who hopes to unlock the secrets of the universe, unaware he’s been turning into a living weapon: Introducing Sigma.

Watch his origin video embedded below.

Each year the cosplay on display at BlizzCon showcases just how much talent and dedication goes into bringing classic characters to life. And with franchises like Warcraft, Overwatch, StarCraft, and Diablo - it's no wonder the cosplay community around Blizzard is as vibrant as it is. After a sizable community vote, four teams from NSW, VIC, NZ, and SA have been tasked with bringing specific Overwatch heroes and skins to life.

With Team NSW (Yasemin Arslan, Danielle Debs, and Jarrah Brouwer) tasked with recreating Socialite Ashe and B.O.B.


Team VIC (Stephanie Vander Heyden, Damien Vander Heyden, and Ashleigh Priest) given Shieldmaiden Brigitte.


Team SA (Clare Beaton, Oarin Tremont, and Tim Nicholas) as Greifhardt Reinhardt


And finally, Team NZ (Sanit Klamchanuan, Victoria Gridley, and Johanna Friederike) recreating Lu Bu Reaper.


With the winning team, as voted by the community and a panel of judges being awarded with tickets, airfares, and accommodation to attend BlizzCon this November. Where as part of the celebration they'll be able to showcase their creation in front of tens of thousands of Blizzard fans.

Head the the official site for more info - with the winners set to be announced on October 11. Now, is it just us or does it seem like Team SA got tasked with creating a insanely hard skin.

Being able to go through a replay of an entire Overwatch match is something fans have been wanting to see for quite sometime, and it looks like the wait is finally over. Or, almost over as the new Overwatch Replays feature is currently live on the PC Public Test Realm (PTR) ahead of planned full release across PC and console.

As expected, the team at Blizzard is making sure it's doing things right as players will be able to view replays from any character perspective, vantage point, or even take a birds-eye view of how a particular skirmish played out - with an overlay you can toggle on and off. Which in our case would be to find out exactly how we failed to hold a Capture Point.


Accessing Replays will be straightforward with players being able to view any one of their most recent 10 matches. As with Highlights, Replays will be only be available for the duration of a patch and will reset when a new major update is applied.

For more details on Overwatch Replays, head here.

Set in Cuba, it features all the detail and environmental lore we've come to expect from Overwatch. As an Escort map this means traveling through a wide range of locations from alleys to city streets, factories, and even an old timey castle. Hit the jump for a video preview.

Havana is a new Escort map set in the region where one of the infamous members of Talon’s council, Maximilien, operated. For a time, this shadowy organisation plagued the local populace with its corruption and crime. Eventually, an Overwatch Strike team was deployed to extract Maximilien with the purpose of gaining intel on a mysterious Talon counterpart, Doomfist.

After hitting the PTR recently Havana is now live across PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Players will recognise the map, sans crazy weather, from the recent Storm Rising Overwatch Archives mission.

Blizzard has offered up true content creators the opportunity to craft their own content within the developer's hugely popular Overwatch. Workshop, as it's named, is up and running on the game's PTR, or Public Test Realm, and features a number of neat tools designed to lure modders and would-be game developers into the creative space.

Here's the official, brief, rundown ahead of a link to the full blog outline:

Within Workshop, players can create a Script to add Rules and unique play Conditions on top of the established Overwatch game modes they already know and love. Rules can do many things, like change how a hero's movement and abilities work, modify how players are damaged or healed, or even display text under certain circumstances. Games created by Workshop will live on the Custom Game Browser.

Key Features:

• Create your own scripts for customised game modes in Overwatch
  
• Share/link out to your own game mode without navigating through menus in game
  
• Debug issues with scripts using the Workshop Inspector
  
• Workshop will be available on both console and PC


Workshop is now available on the Public Test Realm (PTR) on PC. To access Workshop and start creating a script, while in game, click Play > Game Browser> Create > Settings > Workshop.

The Overwatch team is offering two new game modes created through Workshop to give players an idea of what’s possible:
• Molten Floor: Stay off the floor, it’s deadly lava.
  
• Mirrored Deathmatch (FFA): Players wage deathmatch as the same mirrored hero, rotating heroes every minute, the player with the most kills wins.

How much these tools will open up and how deep your creative freedom can go will remain to be seen, but for now you can get cracking on making some of your own content within the game. More details of which can be found by clicking here.

Watch Overwatch team's own Jeff Kaplan going into more detail in the video embedded below.

Like most online games that exist in that place we call The Net, Overwatch isn't the only experience to fall victim to the rise of toxic behaviour among the community. Like with most titles, account bans and reporting arrived onto the Overwatch scene post-launch. But, Blizzard and the Overwatch team also introduced a new Endorsement system last year. Where positive reinforcement and rewarding good behaviour has made a major impact.

At GDC last week, as reported by Variety, Blizzard was on hand to confirm that due to its efforts and the introduction of the Endorsement system the tracking of toxic behaviour has seen a decline by 40%. Research scientist Natasha Miller, who worked with Blizzard, defined toxic of disruptive behaviour as, "Any negative behavior that disrupts the core intention of the game. It’s things like intentionally losing a game, typing or saying horrible things in chat or on mic, or being away from the keyboard during a game."

In conducting the research to see the effect Blizzard and Natasha also discovered that players mostly felt the reasoning for the improvement was due to the Endorsement system. Although at GDC Natasha Miller noted that the data here "was close".

Playable now via the Overwatch PTR, the 30th hero to join the Overwatch ranks is the Support combat medic Baptiste. Wielding a three-round-burst Biotic Launcher, the first hit-scan style weapon for a support hero, his abilities range from providing a healing burst to creating an Immortality Field.

Full name Jean-Baptiste Augustin, age 36, he hails from Tortuga, Haiti and was formerly a Talon agent. Classic case of bad guy gone good. Here's a quick rundown of his weapons and abilities.

"No dying on my watch."

Get your first aid on Baptiste's abilities and playstyle. Now on the PTR!

⚕️ https://t.co/vYwq6gUGK4 pic.twitter.com/poB6TKXFMQ

— Blizzard ANZ (@Blizzard_ANZ) February 26, 2019

Biotic Launcher
Baptiste’s three-round-burst Biotic Launcher rewards accuracy and recoil control with significant damage output. It also doubles as a healing device, lobbing projectiles that heal allies near the point of impact.

Regenerative Burst
Baptiste activates an intense regenerative burst that heals himself and nearby allies over time.

Immortality Field
Baptiste uses a device to create a field that prevents allies from dying. The generator can be destroyed.

Amplification Matrix (Ultimate)
Baptiste creates a matrix that doubles the damage and healing effects of friendly projectiles that pass through it.

Exo Boots (Passive)
By first crouching, Baptiste can jump higher.

Definitely potential to shake-up the Overwatch meta, Baptiste's ultimate ability also stacks with other hero abilities to potentially provide quick bursts of massive damage. In terms of design a lot of his abilities require him to be close to allies, so Baptiste will be most effective during large group skirmishes. What's interesting is that the Immortality Field was originally Baptiste's Ultimate but then the team decided that it would be more exciting as 'normal' ability, which led to its design taking on more of a role outside of teams potentially trading Ultimates. The fact that the field itself is small and players can be knocked out of its range, or the field itself getting destroyed, means that its tactical potential extends well beyond a save-all like, say, Zenyatta's Ultimate.

For more on Baptiste, here's Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan talking about him in detail.

The official path to pro league for competitive Overwatch continues, with Overwatch Contenders Australia 2019 Season 1 commencing today and running through to April 10. Matches will be broadcast live Mondays (3:00pm-7:00pm AEDT) and Wednesdays (11:00am-3:00pm AEDT) with this season seeing eight teams compete for their share of the sizable $100,000 USD prize pool.

Reigning local champs Sydney Drop Bears will be joined by a number of talented teams:

• Sydney Drop Bears
  
• ORDER
  
• Athletico Esports
  
• HEIST Gaming Club
  
• Melbourne Mavericks
  
• Blank Esports
  
• Legacy Esports
  
• Mindfreak G

With the following details covering the season format. Eight teams will compete in a single round robin face-off with the top six making the playoffs. Matches will be played on Patch: 1.32.1m with a map pool of:

• Control: Lijiang Tower, Nepal, Oasis
  
• Hybrid: Eichenwalde, King’s Row, Blizzard World
  
• Assault: Hanamura, Horizon Lunar Colony, Volskaya Industries
  
• Escort: Junkertown, Rialto, Watchpoint Gibraltar

You can watch all the action live over at twitch.tv/overwatchcontenders.

And this being the third win in a row for the talented team, the above headline is exactly the same as one we posted last year in relation to Overwatch Contenders Australia - the patch-to-pro league for Overwatch talent the world over. With the Overwatch Contenders Australia Season 3 Grand Final held this weekend at ESL Studios in Sydney, the Sydney Drop Bears once again took the crown.

In a decisive 4-1 victory over ORDER. What was especially interesting about the victory is that due to their success, the Drop Bears has lost a number of players and talent to overseas teams including Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse recently joining the Boston Uprising Overwatch League team to compete, as they say, in the big leagues. Proving that Overwatch Contenders could live up to its promise, even in Australia.

With exceptional talent displayed from all teams. Check it out.

Watch Overwatch Contenders Australia | Sydney Drop Bears vs Heist | Semifinal 1 | S3 Playoffs from OverwatchContenders on www.twitch.tv

With seasonal esports now a major thing with established teams, events and a list of games working to continue to legitimise the burgeoning competitive gaming space, a few titles standout as industry leaders. Today one such game, Overwatch, which won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards, has had its upcoming regular season schedule revealed as we close in on 2019, with tickets also now available for purchase.

Kicking off on February 15, Blizzard will mark the occasion with a marquee Grand Final rematch between champions London Spitfire, and runner-up, Philadelphia Fusion. Here's some official information on the season ahead:

New to Overwatch League’s 2019 season is the introduction of Homestand Weekend events. Three teams – the Dallas Fuel, Atlanta Reign and Los Angeles Valiant – will host regular season matches in their respective territories, giving more fans their first taste of live professional Overwatch before all teams move into their home venues in the future. Tickets for Homestand Weekend events will be put on sale by the individual teams at a later date.

The 2019 season will also have a revamped playoff structure and end-of-season format. For the 2019 season, the league’s top six teams will automatically qualify for the postseason, with the Atlantic and Pacific Division winners receiving top seeds. Two final playoff spots will be decided via a play-in tournament in August. The tournament will feature teams that finished seventh through twelfth in the overall standings, with the top two teams from this tournament advancing to the postseason. This play-in tournament will replace the Stage Finals at the end of the league’s fourth and final stage.

The prize pool will be increasing from $3.5 million USD to $5 million USD in 2019. Details on prizing, and the map pool for Stage 1, are available now on OverwatchLeague.com. Specific dates, formats and other information for the All-Star event, playoffs and Grand Finals will be unveiled next year.

All matches will be broadcast on OverwatchLeague.com, Twitch, and MLG. Select matches will be broadcast in North America on the ESPN / ABC / Disney XD family of networks. The complete regular-season linear broadcast schedule will be announced shortly.

Check out the full schedule and ticket purchase options here, or click here to download it.

Watch a trailer for the upcoming season embedded below.

February 2019. We’re back. #OWL2019

Here’s the 2019 regular season schedule! 👀

Get the details here: https://t.co/ch0QktDwT6 pic.twitter.com/FoSkrOrvxC

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) December 12, 2018

<script></script>

Thanks to Blizzard we've got 20 digital copies of Overwatch Legendary Edition on PC to give away! Entry is simple, all you need to do is answer a simple question to go into the running - hint, is has something to do with choosing one of the 29 heroes currently playable in the Overwatch roster.

So get in quick, and Click Here for the Competition Page.



Also, Overwatch is currently on sale on sale from now until Thursday, November 29 at 7PM at 66% off for the Legendary Edition (currently at $29.95 AUD, down from $89.95 AUD) and 63% off the Standard Edition (currently at $21.95 AUD, down from $59.95 AUD). Head on over to www.tryoverwatch.com for more info.

In an interview over at Red Bull Games by our very own Kosta Andreadis (yes, Red Bull Games is real and has very good content, thanks largely to a lot of AusGamers alumni), Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan teases at some very, very big things happening in Overwatch world, in the near future.

Specifically, the Overwatch development lead says that the team itself is "driving towards some very big ideas" beyond the usual map and character drops and that "there are some very big dreams in front of us".

"The team are some of the most brilliant and creative people I’ve ever gotten to work with,” Jeff concludes. “It’s very humbling for me to be around them. I often have that moment of Imposter Syndrome, where I’m thinking ‘these people are so much smarter than I am.’ They’re very creative and they’re very ambitious in what they want to do. And their plans for what Overwatch are, well, they have a very big dream of where they want the game to go.

“Unfortunately, our players can’t quite see the steps that it takes to get there, but they’re driving towards some very big ideas. On the immediate front they’re going to get more content [such as] new maps and new heroes. But there are some very big dreams in front of us that the team is working toward. I have faith that when we’re finally in the position to announce some of the bigger things that we’re working on – the community will kind of respond with ‘Oh yeah, it had to have been that. That makes sense’. The team has ambitious plans for Overwatch and the community will be pleased when we can finally talk more about them.”

The full interview feature also covers the larger improvements over the game's surprisingly short period out in the wild, given its popularity, and wholly looks at where it sits now, versus where it once was.

Another BlizzCon announcement saw that Ashe -- the notorious gunslinger -- will be joining the fray "soon" (classic Blizzard), while a new animated short features McCree running into Ashe.

Check out "Reunion" the animated short below, and following that new details surrounding Ashe.



Here's Ashe's pertinent information:

Ashe quickly fires her rifle from the hip or uses her weapon’s aim-down sights to line up a high damage shot. She blasts enemies by throwing dynamite, and her coach gun packs enough punch to put some distance between her and her foes. And Ashe is not alone, as she can call on her omnic ally B.O.B., to join the fray when the need arises.

Abilities

• The Viper - Ashe's semi-automatic rifle fires quick shots, or she can use her aim-down sights for a more damaging, precise shot.
  
  
• Dynamite - Ashe throws an explosive that detonates after a short delay or immediately when shot. The explosion from Dynamite also lights enemies on fire, dealing damage over time.
  
  
• Coach Gun - Ashe blasts enemies in front of her, knocking them away and propelling herself backward for added mobility.
  
  
• B.O.B. - Ashe summons her trusted omnic sidekick, B.O.B., who charges forward and knocks enemies into the air, then lays down suppressing fire with his arm cannons.

Watch her origin story embedded below and a gameplay reveal video below that, followed by a couple of screens.

Including a Junkenstein’s Bride look for Sombra and Soldier 76 turning into the villain of an '80s Slasher film. A spooky cinematic sizzle reel of all the big new skins can be found after the jump.



The Halloween seasonal event in Overwatch now finds itself in its third year, and brings back Junkenstein’s Revenge in both its variations - including the new ability to play through it as either Tracer or Brigitte.

Overwatch Halloween Terror 2018 runs from today until November 1.