Cross-Play was announced for the first time for shooter Overwatch in early June, and the beta became available for console and PC players on June 22. Players on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Nintendo Switch can now all play together for all modes except competitive, where console players and PC players will be separated, presumably to make up for the advantage of a mouse and keyboard. The patch notes that released with the Cross-Play announcements did, however, come with parity adjustments to narrow the gap between the PC and console experience. These parity adjustments include features that make automatic damage, like Torbjorn’s turret and Ashe’s B.O.B, no longer do less damage on consoles. To enable Cross-Play, console players must create a Blizzard.net account for the first time and link it to their console, which PC players should already have done.
In conjunction with this update is an event that focuses on the character Ashe and her backstory. The Ashe Deadlock Challenge involves cosmetics like skins, sprays, and player icons that can be unlocked in different ways. Playing and winning a certain amount of games will provide these, as well as watching partnered Twitch streams. This event also goes along with the release of Deadlock Rebels, a new Overwatch novel that unsurprisingly features Ashe. It has been previously announced that no new heroes will be released until anticipated Overwatch 2, but that does not mean they cannot cherish and feature their existing characters.