Overwatch patch 1.45 is almost here, and with it come many balance changes - and a controversial new feature. It has been a while since Overwatch has received an update that can be seen as major, but the latest one promises to shake things up quite a bit with regard to the meta - plus there are some pleasant surprises for console players as well.

Recently, game director Jeff Kaplan responded to rumors of an Overwatch hero ban system by explaining that this would only serve to create a “ban meta” and wouldn’t address balance issues or change up the meta much. Kaplan promised that the team would work more diligently to address balance issues and - for better or worse - the latest patch seems to be the first step in attempting to keep that promise.

In an update, Kaplan says that the team plans to regularly make balance changes with the intention of changing up the meta and that he and his colleagues are willing to revert changes if they don’t work out. One such change is a hotly-debated formerly rumored feature - hero pools. While Kaplan dismisses the idea of players voting to remove heroes from a match, the team has decided to introduce Hero Pools in Season 21 of competitive. Each week, different Overwatch heroes will be completely unavailable for play in ranked games - a move that Kaplan says he hopes will encourage more diversity in matches. He says that this pool of heroes will be chosen by the design team. The system may be changed to exclude heroes daily or even by match. If this doesn’t work out, players will have to wait until Season 22 to be rid of the Hero Pools system.

Also, PC players won’t have the exclusive ability to test changes before they go live anymore. Overwatch Patch 1.45 adds an Experimental card to the game. This lets players test potential upcoming changes no matter which system they enjoy and earn loot boxes in the process. Kaplan notes that the Experimental card is not to test bugs, but instead to experiment with balance changes, new game modes, or updates to the rules. Experimental content is not guaranteed a release. The Overwatch director adds that Blizzard is “beefing up” anti-cheat efforts. The patch is expected to release in early February.

Overwatch Patch 1.45 promises to become rather interesting as players find that their favorite characters are periodically unavailable for play. While this will absolutely change up the meta in large ways, many players will not tolerate an inability to play their favorite characters and it’s possible the change will drive off part of the player base until at least Season 22. However, Blizzard recently added a seasonally-rotating map pool, which has worked out surprisingly well. The Experimental card includes everyone in the process of testing content. This will be helpful for gathering feedback not just from PC players but from those who play on consoles as well. No matter how one feels about anything this patch brings, it’s sure to shake things up a lot.

More: Blizzard Looking into Cross-Play for Overwatch

Overwatch is available on the PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.