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Blizzard Takes Swipe at Jet Pack Cat Dominance, Addressing Its Reign of Terror in Fresh Hotfix

If you’ve been playing Overwatch during the last couple of weeks, you’ve likely been haunted by the sound of a pair of small thruster engines followed by a squeaky “meow” serving as a precursor to your chosen hero’s face being scratched to death. Well, in order to soften this horror, Blizzard has released a hotfix attempting to address the terror that is Jet Pack Cat.

The patch, released on February 24, applies the following nerfs for the supposed support character — not to her healing capabilities, nor her core offensive skills, but to the perks that lead to her becoming a killing machine.

These include her minor perk, Claws Out, having its cooldown increased from 6 to 8 seconds, meaning you’ll at least feel the pointy end of her paws a little less frequently. Also listed is a significant reduction to the major perk, Territorial, which sees the damage dealt reduced to 33% from 50%. Interestingly, there is no mention of any planned tweaks to her Ultimate ability, which effectively guarantees an enemy elimination due to its pick-up-and-drop nature. Cats don’t like wells, unless they’re lobbing you into one, it seems.

It will come as no small irony to long-term Overwatch players that the owner of this feline friend, Brigitte, also pretty much broke the game upon her introduction back in 2018, which led to a fair few weeks of her being practically unkillable before her loadout was addressed. While Jet Pack Cat is nowhere near as powerful as the Swedish support hero was, there’s no denying that they were a nuisance that needed to be tweaked. We’ll see if these fixes have the desired effect over the coming days, but as is the case with any online multiplayer game, adjustments always need to be made, especially when introducing five brand new characters in one go.

Speaking of those other additions, they’ve also received a mixture of buffs and nerfs to their kit and cooldowns. Fellow healer, Mizuki, has seen the duration of his ultimate, Kenkai Sanctuary, increased from 6 to 7 seconds. DPS hero Emre’s burst rifle has had its damage increased from 20 to 22, and flaming fan-wielder Anran has seen the cooldown of her Inferno Rush ability reduced from 8.5 to 8 seconds, as well as an increase to the distance you can move while Dancing Blaze is active to 2.25 meters from 1.5.

While not as new as Emre or Anran, fellow walking weapon Vendetta has seen the damage of her overhead sword swing reduced from 130 to 120, as well as a bug fix allowing for that move to now be affected by horizontal knockbacks. Then there’s Domina, my dear beloved — you can read all about how much I enjoy her here. The destructive tank has, thankfully, only received a minor nerf, with the cost of her ultimate increasing by 12%. I’ll still be able to have my fun.

What do you make of each of the five new heroes that have made their way into Overwatch ever since it ditched the “2”? Let us know in the comments. Be sure to keep it locked to IGN for all future updates on Overwatch, including if and when we see an updated look for Anran now that the backlash to her appearance has been recognised by Blizzard.

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Overwatch Rush Announced — A New Top-Down Mobile Game Developed by Blizzard

Overwatch Rush is a brand new mobile title from Blizzard that it describes as an “entirely new game - not a port.”

The original Overwatch has seen somewhat of a resurgence in recent weeks, thanks to an overhaul of the nearly 10-year-old hero shooter that saw it lose the “2” from its title, add five new heroes, and revamp its menus and approach to storytelling. And it seems Blizzard isn’t keen on letting that momentum slip anytime soon, with the announcement of the whole new game.

Overwatch Rush is a “top-down hero shooter designed specifically for mobile set in the Overwatch universe” that is crucially not just a port of the PC and console game, but its own project being crafted by the Diablo and Warcraft studio.

“Overwatch Rush is being developed by a dedicated team at Blizzard, separate from Team 4, all of whom have deep mobile experience,” a press release states. “Team 4 remains fully focused on Overwatch, which will continue to bring exciting and fresh new experiences for PC and console players in its recently launched Season 1 and beyond!”

A short previewvideo showcasing early development gameplay has also been shared, which shows that classic Overwatch action from a new perspective, as the camera hovers above fan-favorite heroes like Mercy, Reinhardt, and Tracer as they compete on the South Korean Busan map.

A control scheme can also be seen on screen, suggesting that your left finger will be used to control the movement of these characters, while their primary fire and skill buttons sit to the right of the frame. From this early glimpse, it certainly looks like Overwatch’s frantic 5v5 action, albeit at a slightly more casual pace.

Updates on the project are promised soon, with Blizzard going on to confirm that “as we prepare for testing Overwatch Rush in select countries and regions, check out our official Discord server for updates on the game.

“While there remains a lot of work to do, we’re eager to see how players enjoy what we’ve built so far, and to hear from them on what we should focus on in the coming phases of development. Our mission is to continue to expand the Overwatch universe by bringing fresh new adventures to players across all platforms. We'll continue to keep you updated on how things are progressing.”

I, personally, haven’t stopped playing Overwatch ever since my beloved Domina entered the game a couple of weeks ago, so if I’m given the opportunity to carry on playing when I’m out of the house, it really could cause trouble for me. What do you think of Overwatch Rush? Let us know in the comments!

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

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