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Overwatch World Cup Viewer adds new in-game spectator client for BlizzCon

Blizzard will go all-out in debuting new spectator features for the remainder of the Overwatch World Cup, essentially giving pro esports observer tools to the masses.

Ozzie Mejia

October 23, 2018 4:40 PM

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The Overwatch World Cup finals is around the corner and Blizzard is about to make it easier for fans of the competitive scene to check out the action. On Tuesday, Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan announced that Overwatch players would be able to watch all of the remaining Overwatch World Cup directly from the in-game client.

The Overwatch World Cup Viewer will allows owners of Overwatch's PC version to jump directly into spectator view and get a first-hand look at all of the Overwatch World Cup action. Kaplan notes that the average player will essentially have all the basic tools utilized by professional esports observers for all of Blizzard's competitive Overwatch events. Replays for the semifinals and finals will be available as soon as the games are contested at BlizzCon, allowing for painstaking analysis by enthusiastic Overwatch fans.

"The Overwatch World Cup Viewer obviously is going to be a new way for you to watch the Overwatch World Cup in a way that you've never seen before," Kaplan said during Tuesday's Overwatch Developer Update video. "Prior to BlizzCon, we are going to put up a special beta version of the feature, because we need to test this more than anything else. And that beta version of the Overwatch World Cup Viewer will be available to you only in the Battle.net client, which unfortunately means that the beta of this will only be available for our PC players."

Kaplan adds that beta testing is the first step towards expanding the viewer feature across all of Overwatch. This means players will eventually be able to utilize these features for all Overwatch games, both in competitive and casual settings.

The Overwatch World Cup acting as a testing ground for Blizzard is not unprecedented. Last year, Blizzard brought out new spectator mode improvements that eventually found their way into the first season of the Overwatch League.

While expectations are high for Overwatch at BlizzCon, Kaplan makes sure to note that there are no new maps set to be announced at this year's event. However, the team is working on new map content. On top of that, the next patch will look to offer new buffs to Roadhog, Reaper, Symmetra, and Mercy. Look for those changes to be instituted in Patch 1.30.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?