Mei's return to Overwatch 2 delayed by 'critical issue' with patch

Mei and Snowball in Overwatch
(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Update: The Overwatch 2 patch, which will restore Mei as a playable character, is now scheduled to come out on Thursday, November 17, at 11 am PT, according to a Blizzard tweet.


Original story: Overwatch 2 can't keep its heroes in one place for longer than a week.

Mei, the latest hero to be removed for bug fixing, isn't returning to Overwatch 2 quite yet, according to an update from Blizzard on its forums. The game's mid-season patch has been delayed due to an unspecified "critical issue," the developer says. It wasn't stated whether this issue has to do with Mei herself, or something larger within Overwatch 2.

It's not clear how long the delay will be; Blizzard says it's working on releasing it "as soon as possible," and to watch the forums and the Overwatch Twitter account for updates.

Mei was removed on October 31 due to a bug with her Ice Wall ability. Players found that Meis can wedge themselves into corners with it and then use a teleporting character like Kiriko to clip into the map geometry. From there, the Kiriko could swap to a hero like Symmetra and safely attack players from underneath the map. Clever, but not very nice.

Before Mei, Blizzard removed Bastion for two weeks while they fixed an exploit with his ultimate ability. If Mei doesn't return later today, she will have been out of the game longer than the robot.

The rest of the patch includes balance changes to over-performing heroes, including Genji, D.Va, Zarya, Sombra, and Kiriko. Overwatch League viewers who caught the grand finals already saw the patch in action: Zarya's unstoppable reign is over, Genji has been swapped out for Reaper, and Sombra isn't played at all. Sojourn, the new railgun-toting hero who, by most people's estimation, is absurdly powerful at the moment, won't be getting any changes. That is, unless something changes from the patch notes Blizzard released last month.

If you log into the store right now there's a new, colorful Mei skin on the shop for 1,000 Overwatch Coins. The Retro Star skin is wrapped in pastel pink, gives Mei turquoise hair, and has a shooting star that changes colors. If only there was a hero in the game that could use it.

Tyler has covered videogames and PC hardware for 15 years. He regularly spends time playing and reporting on games like Diablo 4, Elden Ring, Overwatch 2, and Final Fantasy 14. While his specialty is in action RPGs and MMOs, he's driven to cover all sorts of games whether they're broken, beautiful, or bizarre.

Read more
Overwatch 2 hero Venture peering into the distance with a grin on their face
Overwatch 2 prepares to share 'Groundbreaking PvP gameplay changes,' and players can't decide whether this means we're getting 6v6 back or skill trees
overwatch 2 season 15 cosmetics
Overwatch 2 is getting radical changes that might finally help that '2' make sense, starting with a third-person mode and over 160 hero perks
Le Sserafim Overwatch 2 collab
Overwatch 2 is launching another Le Sserafim collab with 'more transformative' skin designs, guided by Blizzard Korea Studio's keen eye for Korean trends and street style
Best Free Steam Games - Marvel Rivals - Black Widow aims down a sniper scope.
'The market is large enough to accommodate both games': NetEase is confident it can make space for Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2
overwatch loot box
Overwatch 2 is bringing loot boxes back from the dead
Freja - new Overwatch 2 hero
Overwatch 2's upcoming hero is a DPS with an explosive crossbow, a bola that pulls enemies together, and a whole bunch of annoying ways to zip around
Latest in FPS
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Ogryn
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide adds a psychic horde murderzone mode and makes Ogryns even smashier
Starfield's companion robot giving a thumbs-up
Former Bethesda dev who quit Starfield to go solo says it's 'much less stressful as an indie' without daily meetings or 'office politics': it's 'very refreshing to just care about the game'
A crew of prospectors in Wildgate, featuring a robot, a rabbit man, and a small aquatic creature in a combination mech/aquarium.
Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime's new company is putting Sea of Thieves-style shenanigans in space with a new crew-based shooter
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Neighbors Suburban Warfare screenshot a child aims a slingshot at a man from across a cul-de-sac.
A beta of backyard FPS Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is out now, and the balance discussion is hysterical: nerf trash can lids and children
Fragpunk
Somebody finally figured out casual Counter-Strike
Latest in News
A gigantic terracotta sentinel made of living armor
Total War: Warhammer 3's army of Cathay has broken containment and is making its way to tabletop Warhammer at last
Two brightly colored stormtroopers dressed like Run-DMC stand in front of PAX Australia's WELCOME HOME banner.
Tickets for PAX Australia 2025 are on sale now
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm