Overwatch disables July 27 patch and Genji nerfs shortly after release

Brad Norton
Overwatch Genji throwing Shurikens

Shortly after deploying the latest Genji nerfs in Overwatch, Blizzard has decided to deactivate the patch and all of its changes on the live servers.

A July 23 Overwatch update hasn’t quite panned out as the developers may have intended. The patch included a number of changes for the Experimental mode, targeting Genji and Moira specifically.

Moira was tweaked with an all-new Fade effect along with balancing adjustments to her Biotic Grasp and Biotic Orb. After seeing these changes in action, however, the community exploded with a wave of backlash. Just days later and Blizzard scrapped the hero rework entirely.

Now Geniji’s Experimental updates have also taken a hit. Following their implementation on the live version of the game on July 28, the patch has since been deactivated.

Blizzard provides update on Genji nerfs in Overwatch
The full statement from Blizzard regarding the latest Genji changes.

“We have disabled today’s patch that introduced Genji balance adjustments,” Overwatch Community Manager Josh Nash said on the game’s forums. Therefore, the next time you boot up Overwatch, the previous version of Genji will still be in effect.

The Experimental changes that were set to join the live game, nerfed his overall Shuriken damage. Decreasing from 30 damage to 28, the new tradeoff was that Genji’s secondary fire had a slightly faster recovery time.

This was done in an attempt to scale the damage-dealing hero back after recent buffs “pushed him a bit too far.” With these changes, burst damage would be slightly less significant but Genji would still be a viable option at all ranks.

No reason was provided as to why the adjustments were disabled on the live version of the game. However, Nash assured that they are “still intended” and will eventually come into effect in the “retail environment.”

Overwatch Genji in-game
Genji is one of the more popular heroes to receive skins in Overwatch.

Alongside the Genji changes, a bug fix was also disabled in the latest update. If you’ve traveled to Route 66 recently, you may have noticed an issue with the doors at the end of the first checkpoint. This problem was supposed to be fixed but has since been pulled back as well.

There’s no telling just when to expect this update to come through once again. Enjoy the current version of Genji while it lasts, but be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the nerfs to be reactivated.

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About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com