Just recently, the Horizon Lunar Colony Map has left the 'Overwatch”' PTR. With the map now available, several players have reported having experienced a bug while immersed in the latest map. This includes loss of audio during the gameplay.

Latest bug

On Reddit, several players have posted their complaints along with frustration on the latest game bug they encountered. Redditor Feywhelps reported that the sound bug in 'Overwatch' Horizon Lunar Colony makes the map unplayable. He shared that he has played the latest map for only five times. However, in a couple of times, he experienced muted enemy footsteps, gunfire, and other ult sounds.

He further revealed that this took place when his character died in the game. The Redditor also found out that the only way to get the bug fixed is by restarting the game. He lamented that the bug is a great disadvantage to his team as he cannot hear anything.

In every game, the sound is very important. It sends out clues to the player as to the moves and abilities of its opponents. This way, the player would know how to react to the opponent’s upcoming assault. Moreover, with only visuals available, the player's functions are limited in a team play: callouts from teammates would not be heard, and coordination for offense and defense would be impossible.

What does Blizzard have to say?

In the same thread, Blizzard’s Lead Software Engineer Bill Warnecke responded to the latest complaints.

He asked for apologies for the most recent issue being experienced by players. He sympathized that the bug is annoying and assured that they are currently working on fixes. The sad thing about the fix is that, right now, Blizzard cannot yet confirm when it will be available.

Temporary fix

Since Blizzard is still working on the fix for the latest bug, some players have no idea what to do in situations like these.

For those who are still experiencing the audio bug, the only way to fix it is to restart the game. This could mean losing a round when in a competitive play. However, this is less damaging than still playing in a team without audio. For those in Quick Play, players can finish the round given that the map will rotate after every round.

Other maps

In the same discussion thread, several players commented that they have experienced the same audio bug not only in the Horizon Lunar Colony but in other maps as well. Redditor Dr. WhiteLotus reported that he has experienced the same in Anubis. RedDyeNo5 also shared that he had seen it happen to players in Dorado and King’s Row.

It appears that the bug reportedly found in the Horizon Lunar Colony Map is not an isolated case. With the recent reports from other players, it seems that the audio bug is a game-wide issue that the people behind 'Overwatch' must immediately take care of.