The October 2018 Developer Update gives us new esports spectating news

BlizzCon is almost here, which should bring new Overwatch news, but this Developer Update serves as a little teaser. Today’s Developer Update is about a new feature: the Overwatch World Cup Viewer, which will not only allow players to watch esports in a new way but serves as the backbone for an eventual customizable replay tool.

The Overwatch World Cup Viewer is exactly what it says on the tin — a way to spectate the World Cup action. A beta version of the feature will be available prior to BlizzCon via the Battle.net clients on PC. This allows viewers to watch matches in real time from a spectator with the same tools as the observer teams: free cam, first person, third-person, any point of view, and so on. Replays will be available as well, allowing viewers to go through past matches and check out an extremely impressive play at pro play (or fast forward through an Orisa hold).

The Overwatch World Cup will be streamed as normal for fans who don’t have access to Battle.net on PC.

We also learned there won’t be a new map announced at BlizzCon; the last map we got was the control point map Busan in August alongside the cinematic Shooting Star. The team felt that Oasis and BlizzardWorld, the prior maps announced at BlizzCon, got “lost in the shuffle”; new map content is on the way, but won’t be synced up with the BlizzCon reveal rush.

Finally, there are buffs coming for Roadhog, Reaper, Symmetra, and Mercy in the next patch.