Tomas Hernandez is owner of Blizzplanet.com since 2003. I post news about World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard Careers, and the Warcraft film.
Blizzplanet is a leading fansite covering news about upcoming Blizzard Entertainment licensed products. I also post previews and reviews. I have interviewed book writers and Blizzard game developers.
I was previously an employee of the OGaming Network (2003), and IncGamers (2008-2010). I was a guest newsposter for GosuGamers (World of Warcraft) a few years ago and for Diablofans.com (formerly Diablo3.com)
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Razer is selling the Blizzard-licensed Razer Nari Ultimate Overwatch Lucio Edition for PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch and mobile via its 3.5mm and USB connectors. Usually at $229.99, you can get it now for $169.99. That’s $60 or 26% off.
Razer Hypersense Haptic Feedback for Unparalleled Immersion: Provides industry-leading audio realism for intense, in-game immersion and positional accuracy coupled with THX Spatial 7.1 surround sound.
Lightweight & Auto-Adjusting Headband for Extended Gaming Sessions: The Nari Ultimate adapts to the shape of the user’s head for convenient comfort.
Retractable Mic with Audio Adjustment: Tune game/chat balance for the perfect mix of game audio and team communication; also includes a volume adjustment wheel and mic mute button directly on the headset.
Soft Cloth Cushions with Cooling Gel: Reduces heat build-up while providing comfort and sound isolation for hours of comfort.
Compatibility: Wireless connection with PC and PS4. Wired compatibility via 3.5mm cable with PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices
Ultimate Personalization & Gaming Immersion with Razer Chroma: Includes 16.8 million color combinations.
In a strange move, recently Blizzard Entertainment moved the Overwatch League broadcast streaming from Twitch to YouTube.
eSports Observer uncovered through sources familiar with negotiations and contracts that YouTube paid $160 millions to Activision Blizzard for a 3-year media rights deal to stream Overwatch League through YouTube.
The latest Overwatch PTR patch doesn’t have any hero balancing updates. It merely fixes several Workshop bugs. You can read the previous PTR patch which introduced the new Hero Pools feature here.
Blizzard Entertainment deployed the Overwatch Patch 1.44.0.1.66085. This patch nerfs Brigitte, Widowmaker and Wrecking Ball slightly, and buffs Symmetra’s photon projections with +20 damage.
The console version only has 2 additional changes to Symmetra’s turrets and Ana’s bullet size.
The Overwatch League 2020 has kicked off with its Day 1 matches. The first day was hosted in New York at the Hammerstein Ballroom (Manhattan), but Dallas will host other rounds later.
Below you can read the teams that fought the opening weekend.
Today, Blizzard Entertainment enabled the purchase of the Overwatch League exclusive Goat Brigitte skin for 200 League Tokens — or its US dollar equivalent: $9.99.
Check out the gallery and press the YouTube title to launch the Full Screen. The gear icon at the landing page enables 1080HD.
A job opening for the Overwatch 2 team seems to openly explain the story behind the upcoming sequel.
The Overwatch members are coming together to fight a new Omnic Crisis by Null Sector. But not the same Null Sector of Uprising in King’s Row. This new Null Sector is invading several nations around the world.
The brief paragraph describing the story gives better context than what the developers actually said about the story in the BlizzCon 2019 Overwatch 2 panel. You can read the panel transcript here.
In Overwatch 2, the nations of Earth are under assault. As the omnic forces of Null Sector launch a barrage of surprise attacks around the world, the planet’s governments and militaries prove quickly outmatched—and the remnants of the fearless strike force once known as Overwatch rally to make a valiant stand. Now the world’s heroes must each decide whether to answer the call to reemerge, reunite, and serve as a beacon of hope in a new era of crisis.
We are seeking a talented, motivated, and experienced EngineSystems Engineer who shares our values:
We take responsibility for delivering our work.
We collaborate constantly, helping each other to be successful.
We continuously improve our knowledge, workflows and processes.
We communicate openly, calling out issues, opportunities, and sharing feedback.
We have integrity, maintain confidentiality, and share a sense of ownership in our success.
We have passion for the game, our players, quality work, and technology.
This philosophy, along with the Blizzard values of “Gameplay First” and “Play Nice, Play Fair,” has made Overwatch one of Blizzard’s most successful games, and it has forged a bond of trust with our worldwide player community that is extremely important to us.
Our ideal candidate has a passion for games and developing systems on multiple platforms, working in areas like core architecture, scene management, memory management, data storage and delivery systems and formats.
Responsibilities
Chip in to the development and discussions surrounding overall engine architecture
Collaborate with designers, artists, and engineers to develop and refine key systems which used by multiple game titles
Design, implement and develop tools for designers and artists, including platform specific engine implementation
Maintain tools for performance, stability, and error-free operation
Identify and resolve pipeline issues and discover opportunities for improvement
Requirements
A minimum of 3 years’ experience on at least one shipped title
C++ and object-oriented design skills
Experience working with game engines or real-time kernels
Good understanding of game content pipeline and tools
Ability to collaborate with technical and non-technical teammates
Self-motivated and a great teammate willing to pitch in on many areas of development
Passion for writing clean and performant code
Pluses
Experience with rendering, shader development, and graphics hardware and API’s
Knowledge of animation, camera control, and lighting
C#, WPF, Javascript, Python, or other languages
Interest in workflow automation
Blizzard Entertainment is a global company committed to growing our employees along with the business. We offer generous benefits and perks with an eye on providing true work / life balance. We’ve worked hard to foster an intensely collaborative and creative environment, a diverse and inclusive employee culture, and training and opportunity for professional growth. Our people are everything. Our core values are real, and our mission has never changed. We are dedicated to creating the most epic entertainment experiences…ever. Join us!
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Starting with Patch 1.45’s Season 21, Blizzard Entertainment plans to add Hero Pools. The new feature is not set in stone for future competitive play seasons, but it is a possibility.
So what are Hero Pools? Basically, not all heroes will be available to be played. Only a select group of heroes will be available, and that Hero Pool changes every week.
In a sense, this could give a well-deserved fresh air to the game. Wouldn’t you love a week where those terrible sombras or widowmakers can no longer ruin your matches and SR? How about a week without annoying punch-to-the-face Doomfists?
What about a whole week without Hamster!
Are you a Reaper who hate when Brigitte counters you hard? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a full week with Brigitte disabled? Ahh, now you are starting to get it.
Well, Hero Pools seems like a good direction. At least on paper. Let’s see how it works out in the battlefield.
Blizzard Entertainment listed an upcoming book titled The Cinematic Art of Overwatch — by Jake Gerli (author) and Matt Burns (contributor). The book is slated to ship on October 20, 2020 for $45. It is currently available for pre-order.
Starting with the announcement trailer in 2014, Overwatch’s award-winning cinematics captured the hearts of millions across the world, introducing them to a hopeful science-fiction world where heroes are needed.
Crafting these animated shorts required the Blizzard cinematics team to explore new ways of animated filmmaking with a bold new art style, more frequent releases, and intimate collaboration with the game team. The Cinematic Art of Overwatch chronicles this journey, featuring never-before-seen art and anecdotes that illustrate how Overwatch’s richly imagined characters and world were brought to life through cinematic storytelling.
Blizzard Entertainment has enabled the Overwatch Lunar Year 2020 event dubbed the Year of the Rat. This event will roll from January 16 until February 5, 2020.
Blizzard Entertainment deployed Overwatch PTR 1.44 to test new hero updates, and a Custom Game setting that allows to specify the Data Center Preference where the map should be played.
This patch nerfs Baptiste by reducing the time duration of the Immortality field and increasing the cooldown by 5 seconds.
The nerf bat also affects D.va, Hanzo, Mei, Orisa, and Doomfist.
This is definitely a long stretch, but it is my job to inform anything Overwatch related — whether legit, speculative, rumor-ish, and whatnot. This year, Jeff Kaplan’s Yule Log lasted 8:02 hours.
At 3:54:51 in the video, Jeff Kaplan opens one of the gifts tucked beneath the Christmas tree. It is an Android tablet.
Unit Lost discovered an Overwatch bug that tilts players (standing on mei’s wall) when they drop to the ground. Afterwards, jumping causes them to literally hover in the air for a few seconds.
A patch is definitely coming soon to fix this issue. Please, don’t try this in Quick Play, Competitive or Arcade. Blizzard is known to ban players who exploit bugs.
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Blizzard Entertainment has revealed the new Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2019 skins and other event rewards. The Winter Wonderland event will last from December 10, 2019 to January 2, 2020.
Narrator: Welcome to the Overwatch: What’s Next panel [Music]
Jeff: What’s up everyone? Long time no see. Ah, so I’m Jeff.
Aaron: –and I’m Aaron.
Jeff: So, okay. So Aaron… very humble. So how many WoW fans are here today?
Aaron: Oh my God.
Jeff: Okay. I’m not making this up, you can you can watch this on YouTube. Erin is the gentleman who made Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Ironforge, Darnassus for World of Warcraft. For those of you who are Overwatch fans… what is the best map in Overwatch? Aaron made King’s Row. Okay.
Aaron: Thank you, yeah for all of that, and he’s not embarrassing at all.
Jeff: No not embarrassing at all; and he prefers to be called A-A-Run. Everyone’s been pronouncing it wrong all these years.
Aaron: (laughs) You can ask my mom. Yeah, okay.
Jeff: So, Overwatch 2. We’re talking about it in detail now.
Aaron: I’m so, so excited to talk to all of you about Overwatch 2. We said it in opening ceremonies. It’s so hard not to be able to talk about it with friends and family, and actually use the name Overwatch 2; but here we go.
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