Alongside a plethora of new content headed to Overwatch Summer Games 2017 is a major revamp to the 3v3 Lúcio-only game mode, Lúcioball, that paves the way for balanced matches in competitive play. Announced by Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan, developer Blizzard is introducing changes and new content for Lúcioball.
In Summer Games 2017, Lúcio's ultimate move only enhances his abilities. Once Lúcio's ultimate is activated, he moves faster, jumps higher, and boops the ball much quicker. "He's more like super Lúcio," Kaplan said in a developer update video. In last year's Lúcioball, Lúcio's ultimate quickly pulled the ball closer to him, leading to plenty of cheap tactics to score an easy goal.
Other tweaks to Lúcioball include no booping of enemy players and no standing on the enemy goal. Also, this year’s Lúcioball will be playable in two stadiums: last year’s Estadio das Ras in Rio and the new Sydney, Australia arena.
After making Lúcioball more balanced, developer Blizzard will now introduce a competitive play for the football-like game mode. Similar to ranked Overwatch matches, the competitive Lúcioball mode will include placement matches and a skill rating. Sprays are awarded for completing 10 competitive Lúcioball placement matches and ranking in the top 500 in one's region.
Overwatch Summer Games 2017 starts on August 8 and will add new cosmetic items. Last year's event-exclusive skins will also be purchasable at a discounted price.
