Faulty Overwatch console aim-assist will be fixed, says Blizzard
Patching you up.
Do you play Overwatch on console? Have you noticed aim-assist behaving strangely?
Have you noticed, for instance, that when enemies jump, your aim seems to be pushed down, and you feel as though you're fighting with the game to stay on target?
You may also have had issues aiming down at people from above, and tracking enemies running up stairs.
That's because there was a problem with aim-assist and it wasn't working properly.
The console community made a stand late last week, compiling video evidence of the aim-assist issues on the Overwatch subreddit and duplicating the post on the Overwatch forum.
A day later, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan posted to say, "We'll look into this." He was followed by lead engineer Tim Ford soon after, bearing good news.
"Thank you all for gathering data on this issue," he wrote. "We've identified the defect and a fix will be available with the next console patch."
Success!
Aim-assist is a console-only feature. It's governed by a slider in the options menu and can therefore be toned down or even turned off. When it's on, it helps you snap to a target, so to speak.
Blizzard fixing aim-assist is a step in the right direction but it doesn't mend all console controller concerns. Another outstanding issue is thumbstick acceleration, which speeds your aiming/turning when you push the thumbstick far in one direction. Problem is, it tends to move not in gradients but in an all-or-nothing way. You may be aiming delicately and then, all of a sudden, zoom, you're spinning. There's a more precise breakdown of console aim acceleration issues in a post on the Overwatch subreddit (note: it talks about deadzone areas that appear to have been addressed).
The good news for console aiming acceleration is that Jeff Kaplan acknowledged the issue on the Overwatch forum, and said his team will look into them. "We'll research some solutions," he wrote. "Thanks for the info." The bad news is that his post was made on 29th July and there hasn't been an update since.
Nevertheless, Kaplan's interaction with the console Overwatch community helps lessen the perception that Blizzard doesn't listen to them, only to Overwatch PC players. Will there ever be a Public Test Realm available for console, for instance, where players can try upcoming content like the Eichenwalde map as they can on PC?