An inside look at the ping system in Overwatch 2

news.blizzard.com:

Overwatch 2 is introducing the highly requested ping system to the game!  We’re adding this quality-of-life feature because we are dedicated to improving players’ experiences and including the community in our development strategy. Let’s dive into the inspiration, goals, and an overview of the Overwatch 2 ping system! 

The inspiration behind the ping system came from a value the Overwatch team holds dearly: Every Voice Matters. This is a core value at Blizzard, and the Overwatch team wanted to personify this value in our game.  

We wanted to create a system that would enhance voice communication as well as provide alternative ways to share information with your team,” says systems designer Gavin Winter. “One of our goals was to augment speech and give people a way to visually interpret voice communication. We also wanted to support all voices and create a system to communicate for players that would prefer to avoid voice chat.”  

Part of how the ping system enhances communication is by adding context to what you can already hear in voice chat. With the press of the button, you will activate a contextual ping depending on what you’re aiming at within your line of sight. For example, if you’re playing Tracer and ping an enemy Reaper, your teammates will hear Tracer call out that Reaper’s location.  

Principal designer, Adam Puhl, explains: “It’s a more accurate, clear, and understandable way of communicating rather than hearing someone yell, ‘Reaper behind,’ or, ‘Reaper, Reaper, Reaper!’ " Puhl was also incredibly adamant about looking to the community for guidance on how to create contextual pings that are functional for the players. 

With Reaper, sometimes you can see him, and sometimes you can’t. When you ping a Reaper who's