Overwatch

Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.

Overwatch

Developers
	Blizzard Entertainment
Release dates
Windows	May 24, 2016
Reception
Metacritic	91
OpenCritic	91
IGDB	89
Taxonomy
Microtransactions	Cosmetic, Currency, Finite spend, Loot box, Time-limited, Free-to-grind
Modes	Multiplayer
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	Overwatch

Overwatch
Overwatch	2016
Overwatch 2	2022

General information

Official forums

Official support sub-section

Overwatch wiki

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Origins Edition, Collector's Edition, Game of the Year Edition and Legendary Edition
Amazon.com		Legendary Edition
Battle.net		Standard Edition and Legendary Edition

All versions require Battle.net DRM and a constant internet connection for all game modes.

Monetization

Microtransactions

Type	Notes
Cosmetic	The game has thousands of cosmetic items, ranging from sprays to skins, purchasable with the in-game premium currency.
Currency	The game has an in-game premium currency called coins. It cannot be directly earned in game nor purchased directly at a fixed real money to in-game currency rate. You may receive it by opening both free (given at each account level) and paid (via real money transactions) lootboxes either as the direct reward from the lootbox or if one of the items you receive is a duplicate.
Finite spend	The total spend is limited by the fact that you could in theory own all the cosmetic items. However, there are many thousand of low-value filler items, and you cannot directly purchase certain skins and items and must instead rely on the randomness of lootboxes, making the spend ceiling extremely high.
Free-to-grind	You could, in theory, obtain all the items by grinding the game. It may take you until the heat death of the universe, but it is possible.
Loot box	Overwatch was the first AAA western PC game with a sticker price to offer lootboxes, thus starting the whole trend.
Time-limited	Some cosmetics are seasonal and only available for a limited time.

Version differences

Overwatch: Origins Edition

This version includes the base game, along with the following extra content:

• Exclusive hero skins for Overwatch
• Mercy's Wings for Diablo III
• Overwatch card back for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
• Tracer hero for Heroes of the Storm
• In-game avatar portraits for StarCraft II
• Baby Winston pet for World of Warcraft

Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition

This version includes all of the content found in the Origins Edition, along with:

• 10 in-game lootboxes

Overwatch: Legendary Edition

This version includes all of the content found in the Origins Edition, along with:

• 10 character skins

Overwatch: Collector's Edition

This version includes all of the content found in the Origins Edition, but not the Game of the Year Edition and the Legendary Edition, along with:

• The game's soundtrack
• A visual sourcebook
• A 12.8" statue of the Soldier: 76 hero

Game data

In-game general settings. (Launch)

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Overwatch\Settings\Settings_v0.ini

Progress, stats, and controls are saved automatically by Battle.net servers.

Video

In-game video settings. (Launch)

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor			Pillarboxed 16:9.
Ultra-widescreen			FOV is Vert-.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		80-103°. Defaults to 103°.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Listed as Texture Filtering.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA or SMAA. SSAA is available through the "Render Scale" option.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Triple buffering is also available.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		30 FPS, display-based (value of refresh rate + 10), or custom (30-400 FPS). Menus are locked to 60 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode		Choice of Deuteranopia, Protanopia, or Tritanopia. [Incorrect implementation, Applies filter to simulate colorblindness]

Input

Individual control profiles for each hero are available, making it possible to have custom control settings and bindings for each one.

In-game control settings. (Launch)

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		XInput only. For Steam controller/link, see below.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Locking UI to either Controller or Mouse+Keyboard is possible.

Audio

In-game audio settings. (Launch)

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sound Effects, Music, In-Game Voice, Voice Chat.
Surround sound
Subtitles		On by default for some instances (like Archives and Tutorial), but added in 2019 to regular play with three levels of customization.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Toggle with sound in background option.
EAX support		Dolby Atmos for Headphones, Windows Spatial Audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Latin American Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play
Online play		12	Versus Up to 6 spectators can be added to a game on top of the max player limit.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	80, 1119, 3724, 6113
UDP	3724, 26503-26597

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Overwatch process isn't being terminated when the game closes and/or changed settings are not saved

Set the exe to run as administrator
Go to the game installation folder \Overwatch\_retail_\ and right click Overwatch.exe > Properties > Compatibility tab > Check "Run this program as an administrator" > Apply/OK

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		Works using Compatibility Mode (enabled by default). Depth-sensitive halo around weapons.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11
Shader Model support	5

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Wwise (XAudio2[citation needed])	. Dolby Atmos support for headphones. Vivox for voice chat
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.100n
Multiplayer	Battle.net
Anti-cheat	Warden	W/ GuardIT anti-debug

Add as a Non-Steam shortcut to have the Steam Overlay

This section may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. The specific problem is: Direct referencing of the reader and incorrect format of a file path. You can help by modifying the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.

Use bnetlauncher

With this method, you don't have to log in manually on every startup. Download bnetlauncher. Extract bnetlauncher.exe to wherever you find most convenient. In Steam, add bnetlauncher.exe as a Non-Steam shortcut. Right-click the shortcut and go to Properties. In the Target box, add a space and add ow. For example, it would look like "C:\Overwatch\bnetlauncher.exe" ow. This will depend on where you extracted the executable.

Add the game executable[citation needed]
With this method, you have to log in manually on every startup, even if Battle.net is running in the background. In Steam, add <path-to-game>\Overwatch.exe as a Non-Steam shortcut.

Add Blizzard App executable[citation needed]
With this method, you don't have to log in manually on every startup. In Steam, add the Battle.net Launcher.exe executable from Blizzard App path as a Non-Steam shortcut.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7	8.1, 10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i3 AMD Phenom X3 8650	Intel Core i5 AMD Phenom II X3
System memory (RAM)	4 GB	6 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	30 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 ATI Radeon HD 4850 Intel HD Graphics 4400	Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 AMD Radeon HD 7950

A 64-bit operating system is required.

SSD can fix FPS issues in first minutes of gameplay.