Much like the threat of overly hot summer days and painful sunburns, the next competitive season of Overwatch is lurking around the corner. When season 29 kicks off, however, console players may be the ones feeling the burn.
Season 28 of competitive Overwatch has been going strong for almost two months and players have enjoyed a relatively balanced set of heroes to choose from while they’ve tried to climb the ranked ladder. Many off-tank mains have definitely been trying too hard to get Call Mech eliminations with D.Va, but beyond that, many different heroes have seen playing time at various ranks.
Though the Cross-Play Beta was introduced during season 28, the effects of the new program won’t be felt until season 29 begins on July 1.
Overwatch players on PC won’t feel any big changes when the next season begins since console players aren’t allowed to queue into competitive games. Console players, however, will be dealing with two separate leaderboards and cross-console competitive games during season 29.
If console players have opted into the Cross-Play Beta, they’ll be able to queue up with players from different consoles to tackle ranked games when season 29 begins, according to an FAQ for the program. For example, a player on PlayStation 5 can group up with a friend from Xbox One to play competitive mode together. This also means that console players could be in lobbies with competitors from numerous different consoles.
For console players who want to only play with those from their exact same console type, they can opt out of the Cross-Play Beta. Developers warn in the FAQ that this may lead to increased queue times, however.
Two leaderboards will be created during season 29 for console players: one for those who have opted into the Cross-Play beta and one for those who have opted out of it.
Choose your own adventure when season 29 begins on July 1, likely around 12pm CT based on developer schedules.
