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00:00:00 – 00:05:36
In this video, the OverWatch team, led by Aaron and Senior Systems Engineer Morgan Madin, announces several updates and events for Season 11. Aaron begins by celebrating the OverWatch community surpassing 100 million players and introduces a special initiative where the pink Mercy skin will be reintroduced to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Additionally, a new rose gold Mercy skin bundle, complete with name cards, sprays, and icons designed by community artists, will be available for purchase, with proceeds going to the same charity. Aaron also reveals collaboration with four popular content creators to launch a community-crafted arcade game mode from June 20th to July 9th, featuring unique hero modifications.
Morgan Madin then elaborates on the changes in the matchmaking system gleaned from Season 10 and the planned updates for Season 11. Key improvements include removing the old grouping restriction system in favor of separate pools for wide and narrow groups, which enhanced match quality and reduced the worst-case match disparity from 10 divisions to 6 in narrow pools. To address long queue times for two-stack groups, Season 11 will increase the threshold for what is considered a narrow two-stack. Adjustments for high MMR players will also be made to ensure more competitive matches. Finally, the team is focused on continuous improvement of the matchmaking experience and developing new technology, urging players to provide ongoing feedback. Season 11 is set to launch on June 20th.
00:00:00
In this part of the video, Aaron from the OverWatch team announces several updates for Season 11. He reveals that the OverWatch community has surpassed 100 million players and to celebrate, they are reintroducing the pink Mercy skin on June 25th in support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Additionally, a new rose gold Mercy skin bundle, featuring name cards, sprays, and icons created by community artists, will be available from June 25th through July 8th, with all proceeds supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
The team has also collaborated with four popular content creators to design a community-crafted arcade game mode, launching on June 20th and running until July 9th. These creators have contributed unique hero modifications for an exciting gameplay experience. Finally, Aaron hands over to Senior Systems Engineer Morgan Madin to discuss Matchmaker changes for Season 11.
00:03:00
In this part of the video, Morgan Madin, a senior engineer on the OverWatch team, discusses the insights gained from Season 10’s matchmaking system and announces updates for Season 11. Significant points include the removal of the old grouping restriction system and the introduction of separate pools for wide and narrow groups, which improved match quality. Specifically, in Season 9, most matches involved players within 2.5 divisions of each other, but Season 10 reduced the worst-case match disparity from 10 divisions to 6 in the narrow pool. However, players with two-stack groups experienced long queue times since they had to be matched with three-stack groups. To address this, Season 11 will increase the threshold for what is considered a narrow two-stack. This adjustment aims to balance the distribution of two and three stacks in the queue, leading to improved queue times. The video also mentions adjustments for high MMR (Matchmaking Rating) players to make their matches more competitive while managing queue times. Additionally, ongoing efforts to improve the wide experience and develop new matchmaking technology are highlighted. Season 11 is set to launch on June 20th, and the team encourages players to continue providing feedback.