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Overwatch has seemingly delivered a next-gen upgrade specific to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
Blizzard released the patch notes for Overwatch update 1.58 (opens in new tab) last night, documenting the arrival of the Pachimarchi challenge and several other updates and bug fixes. The notes released on the Overwatch website make no reference to an upgrade, but those posted to the Blizzard forums (opens in new tab) by community manager Josh Nash have a section dedicated to “Xbox updates.”
That section suggests that Overwatch has been “optimized for Xbox Series X/S enhancements.” The main change seems to be the addition of a “preferred mode” graphics option, which will allow players to switch between three graphical presets: ‘Resolution’ mode focuses on higher resolution at the cost of image quality, while ‘Balanced’ mode does the opposite. Finally, ‘Framerate’ mode prioritizes 120 fps at the cost of resolution and image quality, but you’ll reportedly need a TV that supports 120Hz or a variable refresh rate to take advantage of max framerates.
While Overwatch’s Xbox Series X upgrade is already in place, there’s no word on a PS5 version anywhere in either the patch notes or on Blizzard’s social channels. The vast majority of games that have been upgraded since the arrival of the new generation have extended their new tech to both consoles, and in an example as high-profile as Overwatch, it’s surprising to see no mention of Sony’s console. We’ve reached out to representatives from Blizzard and Activision for clarification about both next-gen versions.
If you’re planning on holding out for a truly next-gen Overwatch experience, then you might want to wait for Overwatch 2 – but be warned, it’ll be a “pretty big departure” from the game as it currently exists.
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