'Overwatch' High Bandwidth Update Releases On PC; Here’s What Blizzard’s New Patch Means

Blizzard just released a brand new update for "Overwatch," the first person shooter multiplayer-centric game that has taken the competitive gaming world by storm; dubbed the High Bandwidth Update, the new "Overwatch" system tweak is aimed at further polishing the game's online stability with regards to those with weaker connections.

The "Overwatch" development team announced the update through one of their Developer Update videos shared on the official PlayOverwatch YouTube channel, as reported by Gamerant. The video starred Team "Overwatch" lead engineer Tim Ford and senior engineer Philip Orwig, who discussed the mechanics and intricacies of the new High Bandwidth Update.

Noting that not everyone has access to a strong and stable internet connection, the "Overwatch" developers explained that they had always placed the stability of the game's online play on top of their priority list. The developers then set out to develop a system that would take the varying connection strength of the "Overwatch" player base, with the new High Bandwidth Update instituting the mechanism that will allow the game to respond as needed.

Basically, the High Bandwidth Update will now allow the server to figure out whether an "Overwatch" player's connection is able to handle the appropriate amount of data packets the game is sending. Based on this, the server will then decide where to place the player based on the quality of their connection.

For those playing "Overwatch" with a weak connection, the High Bandwidth Update will place them in a more appropriate grouping and vice versa for those with stronger connections. Going with the is a change with the game's interpolation delay; essentially, the servers will now have a much more accurate ability in rendering a character's position in-game relative to both the player controlling that character and those shooting at it.

Summarizing everything, Ford explained that with the High Bandwidth Update, "Overwatch" matches will have lesser instances of penalties brought on by latency issues. Issues like getting shot around corners, and being unable to escape a kill shot because the server took too long to process an action will, at least, be further minimized.