Overwatch gets an Xbox Series X upgrade, but there's no sign of a PS5 version

Overwatch
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Overwatch has seemingly delivered a next-gen upgrade specific to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Blizzard released the patch notes for Overwatch update 1.58 last night, documenting the arrival of the Pachimarchi challenge and several other updates and bug fixes. The notes released on the Overwatch website make no reference to an upgrade, but those posted to the Blizzard forums by community manager Josh Nash have a section dedicated to "Xbox updates."

That section suggests that Overwatch has been "optimized for Xbox Series X/S enhancements." The main change seems to be the addition of a "preferred mode" graphics option, which will allow players to switch between three graphical presets: 'Resolution' mode focuses on higher resolution at the cost of image quality, while 'Balanced' mode does the opposite. Finally, 'Framerate' mode prioritizes 120 fps at the cost of resolution and image quality, but you'll reportedly need a TV that supports 120Hz or a variable refresh rate to take advantage of max framerates.

If you're planning on holding out for a truly next-gen Overwatch experience, then you might want to wait for Overwatch 2 - but be warned, it'll be a "pretty big departure" from the game as it currently exists

Ali Jones
Managing Editor, News

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.