Overwatch 2 devs respond to concerns new ping system will make Sombra “oppressive”

Michael Gwilliam
Overwatch 2 Sombra changes

The Overwatch 2 developers have responded to concerns that the game’s upcoming ping system would make Sombra way too overpowered with his invisibility ability.

A new Overwatch ping system has been in the works for quite a while and on March 24, Blizzard unveiled it to the world ahead of Overwatch 2’s beta launch in April.

The system, while met with praise, also found its share of critics who believed that it would make the stealthy DPS hero Sombra too much of a threat by being able to reveal enemy positions while invisible.

In response to the criticisms, the devs issued a statement detailing how the feature was designed and how Sombra herself played into its creation.

Overwatch 2 new ping system
Overwatch 2’s ping system was finally revealed.

Overwatch 2 devs say Sombra is “most affected” by ping system

In a post on the official Blizzard forums, Community Manager Jodie explained how she reached out to developers Gavin Winter and Adam Puhl for feedback on concerns over Sombra.

“We agree that Sombra is the hero most affected by this system, and we knew this was always going to be true if we decided to build Ping. She’s the main reason for a lot of the nuance in the Ping System,” she explained.

According to Jodie, because players can only place one ping in the world at one time, Sombra can only track a single foe for her team accurately.

“Sombra can already effectively track one enemy’s position now by informing their team that “the Widowmaker is always directly in front of me”, because of how we show silhouettes through surfaces. I’ve talked to some high level players that do this in Overwatch now,” she added.

Overwatch cyberpunk style woman with pink hair and mechanical inlays holding a gun
Players are concerned that Sombra might be OP with a ping system.

Overwatch 2 devs confirm ping system changes

Furthermore, she stressed how the team is ready to make big changes if certain heroes feel “overpowered” by the ping feature and revealed that they’ve already updated it in the Alpha build after receiving feedback.

“We’ve already made a few changes to ping with regards to Sombra because of feedback from the Alpha, and I have some other ideas in mind if Sombra+Ping feels oppressive,” she stated.

Jodie concluded by explaining how the team wants a Sombra player without a microphone to have the same level of impact as a player with one, and the ping system is a way to level the playing field.

We’ll have to see what the future holds for the ping system and if it ends up helping more than hindering once the beta goes live on April 27.

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About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam