Few things encapsulate the love/hate relationship esports players have with game developers quite like patch notes.
Whenever a significant update is released for a competitive game, reactions are divided. Some players celebrate the changes, as they may address a frustrating issue, while others become frustrated when a cherished character, item, or ability is altered or nerfed.
Changes to the meta, strategic shifts, and roster rebalancing can take a toll on a player’s mental state, leading to feelings of frustration or even burnout.
Fighting games serve as a prime example of this dynamic. Professional players often focus on one or two characters, learning every move, combo, and situation that their character may encounter throughout a match.
According to eTrueSports, When developers release a patch or make adjustments to balance the game, a character may rise to prominence in the new meta, and players who main that character could find increased success.
If a character remains dominant long enough, it can become the new frontier for players to master, like Luke did during the first year of Street Fighter 6.
“When I looked at the patch notes of the first big update to the game,” Wong ‘Chris Wong’ Yuk-cheung shared with Esports Insider at the Red Bull Kumite, “I knew I had to work on Luke because everyone was going to be using him.”
It could be a small change, like a single ability adjustment in a fighting game or a MOBA, a weapon tweak in a shooter, a shift in the effectiveness of an ability, or even a map layout alteration in tactical games like VALORANT. When developers make changes, the competitive player base needs to stay updated and adapt quickly.
How Developers Handle Patch Notes: Pro Players vs. Casual Gamers
In recent years, the anticipation of patch notes has caused burnout within the competitive community, prompting developers and players to adopt various approaches to handle the release of updates.
Most developers release patch notes weeks before an update’s launch, giving players time to theorycraft, test, and experiment with the changes. The level of detail in patch notes varies widely, from Blizzard’s comprehensive breakdown of every minor adjustment, down to fractions of a second in cooldowns, to Marvel Rivals’ more general updates, simply indicating buffs and nerfs.
Once the patch notes are out, frantic testing ensues within the community as players work to optimize strategies and figure out what works best with the new changes. Burnout following a major update is a common theme across forums and Discord servers, as the pressure to be well-prepared for a competition can be immense.
Esports TournamentsIn some cases, like League of Legends, there are so many updates that a tournament needs to specify which patch version each stage of the event will use, forcing players to train on an outdated version of the game since the latest patch won’t be used during the tournament.
The Pokémon Company takes a different approach: when a change occurs, only the Pokémon or specific move affected is listed, without any detailed statistics or percentages—only whether it’s a buff or a nerf.
This approach is both loved and hated by players, as it leads to significant amounts of testing but also allows teams and friend groups to keep certain strategies and knowledge secret to gain an advantage.
The Importance of Patches: Maintaining Fairness and Addressing Meta Issues
Patching is essential to maintaining fairness and competitiveness in a game, while also keeping matches fresh when top-tier gameplay starts to feel too similar. However, developers sometimes intervene with updates to bring the game closer to the players’ experience. A recent example is League of Legends’ anti-lane-swapping rules.
This new set of punitive measures targets support players who roam too frequently in the jungle at high levels of play. The goal is to “bring the sport as close as possible to the players’ experience,” as League of Legends producer Chris ‘Auberaun’ Roberts explained in a developer presentation.
The idea is that pros have been using tactics that aren’t replicable by the wider player base, so developers are stepping in to curb these strategies.
In some cases, patch notes have sparked such an uproar from the community that developers either withhold entire updates or retract changes quickly. For instance, Marvel Rivals‘ Season 1 initially included a mid-season rank reset, but the backlash from players was so intense that the developers reversed course within 24 hours of releasing the patch notes.
Whether players love or hate them, pro players must confront patch notes for their favorite games. Sometimes they’re met with joy, like when popular Overwatch streamer Flats rejoiced after a much-hated character was nerfed—a video that quickly went viral on TikTok. At other times, however, a patch can completely ruin the game, as seen with the second season of Tekken 8.
Ultimately, most players prefer having access to patch notes so they’re not blindsided at the next big event. Ideally, major patches should come once or twice a year, giving pros time to adjust, though some games opt for more frequent, smaller updates. This approach can be stressful for athletes and teams but is often the most effective way to fix unbalanced interactions and exploits.