Overwatch dev reveals fix for game-breaking audio issues coming soon

While audio issues have been plaguing Overwatch for quite some time, Blizzard has finally been able to nail down the exact problem and issue a fix that is set to go live with Patch 1.45.

Players are often able to tell when an enemy is flanking in Overwatch based on the audio cues from their footsteps. Crouching is obviously a way of mitigating that sound, yet in-game bugs have been dampening enemy audio entirely in the title’s last few patches.

Casual and professional competitors alike have grown furious over the issues, but it now appears the developers have finally been able to nail down a solution

Responding to a fortnight-old post on Blizzard’s forums, Overwatch audio director Scott Lawlor revealed the development team was able to pin down the exact complication creating audio problems, thanks to community examples.

Referencing the original post that gained traction by Contenders player Carter Smith of Third Impact, ‘KPOPFANGIRL’ also provided their own unique examples on the forums to further highlight the issue.

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Lawlor indicated the  system responsible for muffling audio was accidentally working harder than the devs had planned for. “The calculations were wrong and we were muffling sounds much more than was intended,” he added.

While players have grown frustrated with how long it took to resolve, “this fix is now on our PTR and will come to the live game with the 1.45 patch.”

Supposedly the audio issues came to the forefront of Overwatch as a result of the Nintendo Switch release. Thanks to the assistance of the community however, the developers were able to replicate the exact problem and fix the bugs.

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“Your example was very easy to reproduce and we found the bug that was introduced while optimizing the system for the Switch release.”

There’s no exact date as to when the current PTR patch will be implemented on the Live Overwatch servers, though usually fans won’t have to wait longer than a few weeks for the updates to come into effect.

As a result, players won’t have to deal with buggy audio and frustrating flankers for too much longer as they climb the competitive ladder in Overwatch.