There was much joy this week when Blizzard launched the Overwatch Summer Games 2017 event. The limited time event offered Overwatch fans a chance to unlock some summer loot and play the Lucioball game mode (which is like a Lucio-only version of Rocket League) some more.

Unfortunately, the return of Lucioball is going less than smoothly and Overwatch players have been reporting issues with the game mode since it went live last night. The issues, which seem to effect the ranked Copa Lucioball mode specifically, include an inability to get into a game. While some players are finding themselves unable to queue for Copa Lucioball at all, some of those who are able to queue end up stuck on 'searching' forever and are unable to leave.

Those who are able to get into Copa Lucioball games are then getting placed on uneven teams (including games of 5v1 or 4v2 instead of 3v3), being unable to leave groups or kick players from groups, and balls falling through the map and ending up in overtime forever. Another reported issue is that these ranked matches may not count towards 'placement' tallies (resulting in more than 10 games required) and no SR being rewarded for completed matches either.

On Twitter, Blizzard confirmed that it is investigating, monitoring, and implementing changes for log-in issues that saw players enter massive queues just to get into Overwatch (on all platforms.) Meanwhile, on the official forums, game director Jeff Kaplan confirmed that a hotfix is coming for some of the Lucioball-specific problems. That fix is meant to be out today on PC but will have to pass console certification and it could be a while until PS4 and Xbox One players feel the effects.

Given that Lucioball and the new Summer Games skins and cosmetics are only available for a limited time, it's disappointing that the experience is so buggy and that players cannot enjoy it as intended. Blizzard has not yet announced plans to extend the Summer Games 2017 as a result of the ongoing problems.

If Blizzard is unable to resolve the Lucioball problems in good time then many will fear for the quality of other Overwatch limited time events. Kaplan has already suggested that Overwatch year two will not add any new events but would instead bring new improvements to existing ones. Lucioball was meant to be an example of this, including changes to Lucio's ultimate ability within the game mode.

Fans will have questions about these changes and concerns that Blizzard is biting off more than it can chew. Quality of life changes are welcome but if they lead to significant technical issues when these modes and events are brought back then many will argue that they are better off left alone.

Overwatch is out now on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Source: Reddit, Blizzard Twitter (1), (2), Blizzard forums