Overwatch's Next Patch Requires Full Game Reinstall

The next patch for Overwatch will require a full game reinstall on all platforms, Blizzard has announced. Citing substantial changes to the game client, the studio said it needs a total restart. PC players who have the public test server version installed will have a smaller install, however.

"The number of back-end changes we're putting in is substantial enough that we can't just patch over the current content efficiently," the company said on its official forums. "As a result, when the next patch comes out, the client will fully reinstall itself to handle these changes. We know that this isn't ideal for people on metered connections, so hopefully this announcement helps you prepare for this coming update."

As for what back-end changes are so big as to require such a rework, Blizzard clarified to Kotaku that it includes memory optimization, a reduction in harddrive space on PS4, bug fixes across various maps, and support for future content. It calls the patch as a whole a "remaster." If you've got the Public Test Realm version on PC already installed, it's said to be significantly smaller.

While this does make the install size larger than usual, Overwatch isn't a particularly large game. It generally comes in at just over 10 GB, and this may be smaller thanks to the changes it's implementing. Blizzard hasn't confirmed what other updates this patch may bring, but we presume it will add the newly announced character Ashe to the game. She's already available on the PTR, which means she'll probably be appearing in the game proper soon.