Overwatch January 12 Update Patch Notes: New Map, Challenges, Balancing Changes, and More

By Abhinav Sharma Published 01/13/21 EST

Overwatch continuous to grow. The team-based multiplayer game by Blizzard just received a major update yesterday. It added a brand-new map called Kanezaka to the game, which can be played on the Free-For-All game mode.

Alongside the new map is the new Kanezaka challenge. You can earn limited-time rewards like Kyōgisha Hanzo skin by watching Overwatch on Twitch or by winning matches. You need to do this before January 25, though. Learn more about the Kanezaka Challenge over here.

The update also brought several balancing changes for Heroes like Ashe, Hanzo, Sigma, and Wrecking Ball. These changes are mentioned in great detail below.

GENERAL UPDATES

Feature Update: Replay Viewer Custom Spectator Options

Added Detached Timecode UI option to Replay Viewer.

HERO UPDATES

ASHE

The Viper

Aim-down-sights damage reduced from 80 to 75.
Aim-down-sights recovery time reduced from 0.7 to 0.65 seconds.

HANZO

Storm Arrows

Shot recovery time reduced from 0.3 to 0.25 seconds.

SIGMA

Experimental Barrier

Redeploy cooldown increased from 1 to 2.5 seconds.

WRECKING BALL

Adaptive Shield

Shield per target reduced from 100 to 75.

BUG FIXES

General

Fixed a bug that caused the flex role rewards banner to not display immediately.
Fixed a bug with the end of round screen for Deathmatch that would exclude players who left when the match ends.
Fixed a bug that caused achievement categories in the career profile to become misaligned when setting the filter to "locked."
Fixed a bug that caused jump landing sounds to not playback properly.
Fixed a bug with long spray names overlapping with UI elements.
[Fixed on impacted platforms] Fixed a bug that caused an indefinite loading icon on the Social menu if your friends list is empty.
[PC-Only] Fixed a bug that caused the mouse cursor to remain focused on the game client while in windowed or windowed fullscreen mode.

Heroes

Doomfist