BlizzCon 2016: Starting Monday, Quick Play Will No Longer Allow Hero Stacking In The ‘Overwatch’ PTR

In one of the more controversial news pieces to come out of BlizzCon for Overwatch in between the Sombra confirmation, the details on The Arcade, and the new Oasis stage, it was revealed that Quick Play will no longer allow multiples of the same hero in the PTR, (the PC test server,) starting on Monday. If previous PTR changes are to go by, this change should come to the main game within a month. Formerly a competitive exclusive feature, Quick Play will now become a way for players to test out their competitive strategies in a similar environment rather than the free for all that it is now.

Hero stacking has been a contentious topic pretty much since the game launched. Blizzard has argued in the past that it brings a legitimate level of strategy to the game shortly before removing it from competitive, while players range from wanting to be able to play as who they want to regardless of team composition, to hating getting stuck in games with five Genji’s screwing around while the enemy walks the payload to the goal. Hero stacking will still exist in the form of the No Limits brawl in arcade, but as of now, brawls are significantly less popular. Blizzard is hoping the new format will spark interest in the bonus modes, but as of now, that remains to be seen.

Personally, as long as we still have the option to stack in the game, I don’t mind. As it stands, we have no way of practicing for competitive outside of playing in competitive itself, meaning that we might get dropped a few ranks before figuring out what works. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments, and check back with Geekscape for all the news coming out of BlizzCon!