Overwatch Players Figure Out How To Play As Villains From New PVE Mode

Ever since I first got brutalized by an assassin in Overwatch‘s new Retribution PVE mode, I’ve wanted to leap on my foes and claw holes in their chests. Recently, a handful of Overwatch players figured out how to do exactly that. Problem: they did it in the game’s competitive mode, giving them a huge upper hand.

Retribution is a co-op PVE mode in which four players team up to escape from hordes of NPC-controlled members of the villainous (or perhaps just misunderstood) Talon organisation.

Through methods still not fully understood by the community, Overwatch players figured out how to slip into the svelte suit of Retribution’s assassin and Talon soldier, as well as the detonator and shield omnic from last year’s Uprising event. They even controlled practice mode’s training bot!

This was clearly not meant to happen. If you take a look at these players’ career stats, you’ll find a bunch of crazy hero names like “Overwatch.guid.0x02E00000000001BB” in their history.

And so, while the exploit is mostly just amusing, it’s also game-breaking, given that some of the bosses have large HP pools and unconventional attacks that become doubly devastating in players’ hands. Blizzard is working to shut it down.

“We’ve identified a server-side fix (no client patch required) and we’re rolling it out to all servers now,” a Blizzard rep said on Reddit. “Once the fix is implemented, this will no longer be possible to do.”

It’s for the best, but it’s also kind of a bummer. My eyes are now open to the possibilities, and I want more. Imagine if Retribution went full Left 4 Dead, and players controlled the bosses that attacked other players. Why isn’t that a thing? Other players are with me in wanting a consolation prize.

“Sorry, you have to make this playable in arcade mode now,” said one player in response to Blizzard’s post. “Rules are rules.”