Overwatch designer Geoff Goodman states that the game’s newest PTR patch is going to be different than previous iterations.
Up to this point, the patches released in the PTR have not been that different from what is released as part of the main game. On Overwatch’s Battle.net forum, Goodman discusses how the PTR was used primarily as a means of making sure that an upcoming patch is working properly, without any glaring problems, all while gathering feedback and making changes was a secondary goal. He states that they “didn’t always have time to try multiple different iterations of any particular change.”
The new PTR, however, will take a different approach. It will be around longer, allowing for more iterations of ideas. And the team is also going in with the goal of trying out some “significant” changes to heroes. It is made clear that the changes brought into this new PTR are likely to be changed by the end of it, unlike with prior patches.
All that said, Goodman also makes clear there will be no changes to Symmetra in this version of the PTR. While changes to the hero have been promised, they are apparently not coming as soon as some players had hoped. On this topic, Goodman says “Her changes ended up being much more significant and require more time to finish up, but shes feeling pretty great internally so hopefully we can get her out there pretty soon.”
There is currently no exact release date for the new PTR update, but Goodman says the team is aiming for the end of the week.