Overwatch 2’s ninth season is underway, and it’s bringing some sweeping changes to the hero shooter. On top of reworking Pharah and giving every hero both a health buff and a passive heal, Blizzard also increased the projectile size of most heroes’ weapons. In layperson’s terms, they made the bullets bigger. This means it’s easier to hit shots than it’s ever been, but is it, perhaps, too easy? That’s what members of the community are saying right now.
Several players in the Overwatch community have uploaded videos reacting to the new projectile sizes. It’s wild to see how getting what the game considers a headshot is so trivial now that you don’t even have to line up your sights with your foe’s cranium. Check out this clip from Salty Phish showing how Ashe’s shots don’t even graze Soldier: 76’s cheek and are still considered a critical hit.
It’s not all bad news; as Salty Phish points out, the health increases mean certain one-shot attacks no longer kill you upon impact, but these projectile sizes still feel like a bit much.
This clip by Metro made me audibly gasp. Sojourn is able to unload a full clip of her gun into the air next to Soldier: 76 (Why are all of you using my man as target practice?), and he feels every bullet as if it passed right through him.
As a person who plays Overwatch 2 religiously but not competitively, I see how this would be very helpful for the more casual player who just wants to push payloads and feel like they’re contributing, but if I can shoot several inches away from a character’s head and still have it considered a critical hit? This seems a bit busted. But balance changes like this are usually turned up to an extreme when they’re introduced and then fine tuned. So hopefully, Blizzard finds the sweet spot after player feedback. We’ve reached out to Blizzard for comment on the situation and will update the story if we hear back.