Overwatch Competitive Rules Guide

Table of Contents

• 1. Point Capture (Assault) Maps
• 2. Payload (Escort) Maps
• 3. Hybrid Maps
• 4. Sudden Death
• 5. Changelog

One of the possible ways of playing Overwatch is Competitive Play. In this mode, wins and losses count towards players' ranks within the system (on which we will elaborate in the future), which in turn means that each match must have a clear winner and loser.

On this page, we mean to explain how the winner is determined in the game's Competitive Play system. This applies to the Point Capture, Payload, and Hybrid Game Modes. Control maps are played in a best-of-5 format, where all other aspects are identical to the Quick Play best-of-3.

On Point Capture maps, each team will play a game on Attack. Each captured point counts as one score point. At the end of the two games, the team with the most points wins. For example, if team 1 had captures both points A and B, the score at the end of the game will be 2:0. If team 2 then only manages to capture point A, the final score will be 2:1 in favour of team 1, who will win the match immediately. It is worth noting that if team 1 fails to capture any points during their attack, the match will end as soon as team 2 captures the first point.

In the event that the score is even after both teams have attacked, a second set of games will be played during which both teams will once again get a chance to attack. This time, however, each team will only be allowed to attack within the amount of time they had remaining at the end of their first attack (which is tracked on the UI at all times). For example, if team 1 captured both points and had 3 minutes left on their clock during the first set, they will have those 3 minutes to mount their attack in the second set. During the second set, no additional time is granted when a point is captured. If a team had less than 2 minutes left on their time at the end of the first set, they will receive 2 minutes of time to attack. However, if a team had no time remaining at all at the end of the first set, then they lose the game immediately and a second set is not played.

Throughout this time, score is still being kept, with each captured point counting as one score point.

The match will continue this way until one of the two teams runs out of time. When this happens, the team with the highest score wins. If the score is still tied at this time, the game goes into Sudden Death (explained below).

On Payload maps, each team will play a game on Attack. Each checkpoint that the payload moves through counts as one score point. At the end of the two games, the team with the most points wins. For example, if team 1 had pushed the payload to the end (through 3 checkpoints), the score at the end of that game would be 3:0. If team 2 then only manages to push the payload past 2 checkpoints, the final score would be 3:2 in favour of team 1, who will win the match immediately.

In the event that both teams pushed the Payload past the same number of checkpoints, and therefore have the same score, then the team that had pushed their payload farthest (in terms of distance, measured on the UI) wins. This does not apply, however, if both teams managed to push the payload to the end, in which case the game goes into Sudden Death (explained below).

On Hybrid maps, the system works very similarly to Payload maps. The first point counts as a single score point, and if neither team manages to capture it (meaning that they do not start moving the payload), then the game goes into Sudden Death (explained below).

In Sudden Death, a coin flip determines which of the two teams attacks and which defends. Then, the attacking team is given a set amount of time (listed below) in which to capture the first point of the map, or reach the first checkpoint (in the case of Payload maps). If they succeed in doing this, then they win the match. If they fail, then the defending team wins the match.

The Sudden Death timers are listed below.

• 13 Jul. 2016: Completely revised the guide for the live version of Competitive Play.