After months of requests from the community to remove aim smoothing from Overwatch on consoles, Blizzard has confirmed that a slider will be added to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions in an upcoming patch. Additionally, they’re working on a new aim technique called Linear Ramp.
Here’s what Lead Engineer Tom Ford said about the control options:
We hear you loud and clear. We’re going to add two options in an upcoming patch. First, we’ll add a slider for aim smoothing. It will default to the current smoothing/acceleration in the game today (full smoothing, low acceleration). As you drag it towards zero, you’ll get less smoothing (higher acceleration). At zero, smoothing is disabled (instant acceleration).
We’re also adding a new aim technique to compliment Dual Zone and Exponential Ramp. The new technique is called Linear Ramp. If you use this technique along with disabled aim smoothing, you will rotate commensurate to the angle you deflect the aim stick multiplied by your sensitivity.
As Battle.net user PsychoHydro explains it, aim smoothing “basically means that the game doesn’t allow a linear joystick-angle-to-turn-speed translation. Instead, it only allows for gradual acceleration of turn speed. For example, if you JAM the right stick all the way to one side instantly, you might expect to be turning at max turn speed instantly, but no, instead it starts off slower and then after a half second reaches that max turn speed.”
Earlier this week, Overwatch received a new update that added the Uprising event, which lasts until May 1.
[Source: Battle.net (1), (2) via NeoGAF]
