Spectator Mode

Players can now become a Spectator in public and private matches. Public matches support up to 4 Spectator players (10 players total in a match), while private matches allow a maximum of 13 players in the Spectator role (in case you’d like to watch a 1-on-1), with a max of 15 players in a private match. The Spectator role provides a unique viewing experience that captures all the action from various different angles including point-of-view, 3rd-person-follow, and disc-follow (as seen in the GIF below).

Spectators can observe a match in VR within their headset, or remove the headset for a 2D experience on their monitor. F1 lists the hotkeys which make it easy to jump from player to player and puts a powerful broadcasting tool right at your fingertips. Watch out, PooNanners and Blu! ;)

Matchmaking Improvements

Our network engineers have been hard at work to bring you…

No more mismatched team sizes ! Players should no longer find themselves in 2v3 or 1v3 matches. If, for some reason, the match becomes imbalanced after a player quits a single player will be added to the match to re-balance the teams. Otherwise, late join players will always join in pairs.

! Players should no longer find themselves in 2v3 or 1v3 matches. If, for some reason, the match becomes imbalanced after a player quits a single player will be added to the match to re-balance the teams. Otherwise, late join players will always join in pairs. Matches will start more quickly once found.

Shiny New Lobby Screens

To replace the blank screens in the Lobby where the Leaderboards used to live, there are now 5 new screens with various pieces of important information such as where to report players violating the Code of Conduct (it’s “report@echo.games”), how to catch up on the latest news through our social channels or blog, and a large reminder of the weekly VR Challenger League cups put on by Intel, Oculus, and ESL.

New Barrier Display

The Arena barrier in front of the goal now shows helpful information about the match and updates after a goal is scored to call out who scored it, who assisted, the number of points accrued, the speed at which it entered the goal, and more.

Nice moves, WhiteDragon.

Private Match Updates

Custom Rules

Using the podium within the Arena, the Party Leader can now set custom rules for the match such as time and the amount of points each team will start with.

Alright, just take it easy there, Blue team.

Rematch

After a Private Match has concluded, the Party Leader can access a podium that has a “Rematch” option to reset the teams to the spawn points and start a new match automatically without first relocating all players back to the Lobby.

Restart

Once a private match has begun, it’s now possible to restart the match using the podium in the spawn room.

Keep an eye out for restart requests on your Arm Computer!

Lobby Return

There is now an option at the end of the match for returning to the Lobby rather than being automatically transitioned.

Team/Role Switching in the Arena

Players can now swap teams (and even move into a Spectator role) on the fly by using the spawn room podium, without needing to first back out to the Lobby or rely on the Party Leader to do so.

Increased Party Sizes to 15 Players

Private matches now support up to 15 players, allowing up to 5v5 matches with up to 5 Spectators. Please note that there are some bugs related to playing with more than 10 players in a party.

Practice Mode

We’ve removed the gates preventing entry into the Arena in Private Matches, so now teams can practice against each other in a no-stakes face-off. Please note that goals are disabled in Practice Mode, and Practice Mode will end as soon as one team member on each side marks their team as “Ready” on the podium.

Balance & Game Mechanic Changes

Reworking the Joust

Joust advantage goes to the team that lost the last point. The disc will now spawn closer to the team that lost the last point in front of the top center tube. As a result of this change, the “Joust” award has been removed.

Disc Spawn at Start of Match

Disc Location After Blue Team Scores

Disc Location After Orange Team Scores

Regrab Timing Increased

The “regrab” timing window for the disc has been increased to .25 seconds from .10 seconds. After a steal, a player won’t be able to regrab the disc back until a certain amount of time has passed.

Piggy-Backing Speed Reduced

Piggy-back riding another player while holding the disc will now apply the 4.7 m/s speed clamp to all players in the chain.

Netcode Improvements

Players will interpolate and extrapolate under high ping to bring players closer together. It will now be easier to anticipate steals and punches.

“Speed Tapping” Removed

1.5m/s speed boost from quick taps off of players and the catapult has been removed.

AFK Timeout Added

Players who have removed their headset for 5 minutes in the Lobby or a private match and 60 seconds in a public match will be disconnected from Echo Arena.

Catapult Grip Break

Players holding onto the catapult ring when it reaches the end of the tube will automatically be detached without needing to let go. No more abrupt stops!

“‘Cause I’m free as a bird now…” (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Known Issues

There are a few known issues that accompany this patch; many of which we’re already working on a hotfix that we’ll deploy in the near future.