Overwatch 2 Season 4: Fix Lag, FPS Drops & Stuttering

Last Updated on April 10, 2023

OW2 Lag Fix – Overwatch 2 is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. The first version was released in May 2016 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Now, It’s time for Overwatch 2.

Overwatch 2 assigns players into two teams of five, each player selecting one of several pre-defined hero characters with unique abilities. Players on a team work together to secure and defend control points on a map or escort a payload across, the map in a limited amount of time. The heroes fall into three classes: Support, Damage, and Tank. There’s will be a PvE mode too in this iteration of Overwatch which should bring more players to the title.

Like every AAA launch nowadays, the game suffers from performance and technical issues here and there. The game was not as polished during the beta and the same is the case with the full release. The game should be more furnished when it launches later this year. Let’s talk about how we can fix FPS Drops & Lag using traditional tweaks.

Update on Nov 3: Overwatch has received several updates since this article was published, and many performance issues have been ironed out. If you are still facing issues, continue reading.


How To Fix FPS Drops in OW2

Let’s start with the System Requirements of the game:

System Requirements

Minimum (30FPS)Recommended (60FPS)
OSWindows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)  Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)  
ProcessorIntel® Core™ i3 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8650  Intel® Core™ i7 or AMD Ryzen™ 5  
Graphics CardNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 600 series, AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 series  NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 or AMD R9 380  
Memory 6 GB RAM  8 GB RAM  
Storage50GB50GB

The system requirements mentioned above are for the closed beta and are subject to change during release. The first look at system requirements tells us that this won’t be a resource-hungry game. Overwatch one ran pretty well on older hardware; there are graphical improvements and texture changes in OW2 that will probably be more VRAM hungry.

Also, the Minimum and Recommended Requirements are for 30 and 60-FPS gameplay. I am not sure who even uses a 60hz monitor anymore; that too for competitive gaming.

Before fixing FPS Drops let’s take care of input lag first:

How To Fix Input Lag in OW2

Input lag is the delay between the time when a player presses a button on their mouse or keyboard and when it is registered by the game.

To fix this: Go to options > Settings > General > Misc > Enable High Precision Mouse Input. After doing this, go to Controls > Controller > Advanced > Aim Smoothing > Turn this setting down to 0%.


Change Graphic Control Panel Panel Settings

Here are a few tweaks for both Nvidia and AMD Users that will provide instantly boost your FPS in Overwatch 2:

For Nvidia Users:

  • Open up Nvidia’s Control Panel. Right-click on desktop > click Nvidia control panel
  • Click Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings
  • Find “Overwatch 2” you can manually add the game if it’s not on the list
  • Now, make the following changes:

Monitor Tech: G-Sync (If available)
Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
Threaded optimization: On
Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
Texture Filtering – Quality:  Performance
Low Lateny Mode: Low (High or Ultra makes sense only for PvP Games)*

Nvidia Low Latency Mode is a feature found in Nvidia’s Control Panel. It is designed to help reduce input latency on Nvidia graphics card systems. Low Latency Mode can be used in games or any other application where you need to reduce the amount of time it takes for your inputs to be registered.

For AMD Users

  • Anti-Aliasing Mode: Use Application settings
  • Anti-aliasing Method: Multisampling
  • Morphological Filtering: Off
  • Anisotropic Filtering Mode: Use application settings
  • Texture Filtering Quality: Performance
  • Surface Format Optimization: On
  • Wait for V-sync: Off
  • OpenGL Triple Buffering: Off
  • Shader Cache: AMD optimized
  • Tesselation Mode: Override application settings
  • Maximum Tesselation Level: Off
  • GPU Workload: Graphics
  • Chill: Off
  • Frame Rate Target Control: Disabled

Update Your Device Drivers

Do you wonder why you should update your graphic card drivers? It would be good to check on the new updates for two key reasons. Firstly, it’s the only way to ensure you have the latest drivers for your device. The more recent drivers will allow your computer to run every graphics-intensive application and keep up with any changes in technology without trailing too far behind.


Enable or Disable Game Mode in Windows 10

The new game mode makes gaming on your computer even better. When playing a game in game mode, Windows prioritizes its performance and gives it more of the computer’s resources. The game will run faster and smoother, with less lag and fewer interruptions. The game mode also ensures that your computer’s performance won’t be impacted when you’re not playing a game.

To enable game mode, go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode. Turn this off or no one by one and compare the performance.


Debloat Your Windows Installation

Debloating your Windows installation can speed it up in many ways. For one, by removing unnecessary apps, you reduce the amount of memory and CPU resources they consume. Additionally, many bloatware apps run in the background and consume network bandwidth; removing them frees up that capacity too. Finally, many bloatware apps are just plain slow and clunky; getting rid of them makes Windows faster and more responsive.

There are a few different ways to debloat Windows. One is to use a tool like Sycnex Script on GitHub; this utility scans your system for unnecessary programs and offers to remove them for you. Another option is to go through the Control Panel’s Programs and Features list and uninstall any programs you don’t need or want.

Syncnex can be used to remove:

  • Misc Bloatware in Windows
  • Disable Edge PDF
  • Uninstall OneDrive
  • Disable Telemetry

Disable in-game overlays

Discord

If you are using Discord like me, then I’d recommend you change a few things. One such thing is, discord overlay, it’s not really something you need at all times. I use a two-monitor setup, so the overlay is useless for me. It is known for causing FPS-related issues.

Disable Hardware Acceleration in Discord

  • Open Discord
  • Click on User Settings > Appearance
  • Click on the Hardware Acceleration radio, this will turn it off.

Disable in-game Discord Overlay

  • Open Discord
  • Go to Overlay under App Settings
  • Click on the “Enable in-game overlay”, this will turn it off.

Windows Game Bar

  • Click Start > Settings > Gaming
  • On the Game Bar, set “Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game bar” to off.
  • Now head to the Captures tab and set the “Record the background while I’m playing a game” to Off.
  • You can also test turning Game Mode on or off, one by one.

Increase Game Priority

This is an old-school method of boosting FPS in certain games; this only affects CPU relying Games.

  • Press CTLR + Shift + ESC to open the task manager
  • Locate Overwatch 2 and right-click > go to details
  • Now right-click on the process’s .exe file and set priority to “high”.

This will prioritize your game over other windows applications and provide you with a little boost.


Update Windows

The recent couple updates were weird and broke a lot of games, to fix those issues, Windows has already pushed out hotfixes and you can download them right away. If you are running an older version of Windows, I’d recommend you download the updated version.

There was also an update that caused windows to use up a lot of RAM for its search bar’s function called Cortana. This also has been fixed, you just have to update.

Why Should You Update Windows?

One of the main reasons to update Windows is for performance enhancements. With every new update, Microsoft improves the speed and efficiency of the operating system. For example, with the release of Windows 10, Microsoft made several changes to improve performance, including faster startup times and improved graphics processing.

Another reason to update Windows is for security enhancements. Each new update includes security patches and fixes that help protect your computer from malicious software and hackers. For example, the Windows 10 Anniversary Update included several security enhancements, including a new feature called Windows Hello that allows you to sign in to your computer using facial recognition.


Fix Overwatch 2 Lagging on Windows 11

These steps are specific to Windows 11 users.

Disable Core-Isolation on Windows 11

Core Isolation is a new feature built-in Windows 11 that protects your PC from untrusted applications and drivers. The tradeoff is the performance. But this will not be an issue for anyone who doesn’t download anything from untrusted sites.

Here’s how you can disable it:

  • Click on the Start Menu button and select Settings.
  • Click Privacy and Security > Windows Security > Device Security.
  • Here you will find Core Isolation; click on Core isolation details.
  • You will find a radio button for “Memory Integrity” on the next screen, just turn it off.

You’ve successfully disabled VBS on Windows 11. Many users on Reddit have reported this to improve performance for many games significantly. We’re talking about improvements of about 20-30 fps straightaway.

Enable Game Mode

We’ve noticed considerable improvements in the Game Mode in Windows 11. For Windows 10, we suggest disabling both the Game mode and the game bar, whereas this option should be enabled on Windows 11.

To Enable: Just type game mode in search and enable it.

Use Compatibility Settings

Of course, not all the titles are optimized for the new operating system yet. This should change soon. Until then you can use Windows’s inbuilt compatibility setting. To do so:

  • Right-click on the app’s exe file
  • Go to properties > Compatibility
  • Under Settings, Locate “Disable fullscreen optimizations”, and click on the checkbox
  • Also, select “Run this program as an administrator”
  • Click Apply and close the box.

One more thing suggested by Reddit users is doing a clean Windows 11 install, rather than upgrading it from Win 10. Also, DX12 optimized games benefit while older ones are taking a hit.


How to fix stuttering in Overwatch 2

Disable Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator

This is a Microsoft service that used to cause micro stutters in Elden Ring, turns out it disabling it works for Overwatch 2.

To do so:

  • Launch Device Manager, and search for it using Windows Search
  • Click on Software Devices to expand the list
  • Locate “Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator” > Right-click and disable it as shown in the screenshot below:

Move the game to SSD or faster HDD

A Reddit user reported constant stuttering in Overwatch 2; someone asked him for his specs, and it turns out the guy had an SSD for C Drive, but the game was installed on the 5400 RPM drive. The user moved his game to the SSD, and the issue was fixed.

As technology continues to evolve, so does the need for better storage. Although hard drives have been around for a while, they are quickly being replaced by solid-state drives due to their increased speed and decreased energy consumption. SSDs are more expensive than hard disks but offer many more benefits. On top of the increased speed, they also consume less power. This is one of the critical reasons SSDs are being used in many new devices, from smartphones to computers.

Close any memory-hogging applications

Open up the task manager and check your memory and disk usage. Close all applications (non-windows) that are eating your memory and using a disk drive. If you are still stuttering with everything looking fine, you should probably wait for the hotfix update, which should be pushed out shortly.

Several memory-hungry apps can cause high RAM usage in Windows. One of the most notorious offenders is Chrome. Even when minimized, Chrome can take up a lot of system resources. Firefox and Opera also tend to use more RAM than Edge. If you’re experiencing regular crashes or slowdowns, it might be time to check your app’s resource usage and see if any of your favorites are guilty parties.

Use Process Lasso to limit CPU usage.

Process Lasso is software that helps you limit the CPU usage of a particular app. Download the software and use it accordingly. I was able to drop my CPU usage by almost 20% after using the software. Also, try switching between hyperthreading on/off; this also has a considerable improvement.


These settings and optimizations were tested on PCs with the following configuration:

  • i5 8500 with GTX 1060 @1080p
  • i3 10300 with RTX 2060 @1080p
  • i7 8700 with GTX 1650 @1080p
  • AMD Ryzen 5600x with RTX 3080 @2k

After performing the above optimizations the game should run well on most computers, considering how low the system requirements are. The problems are only on the optimization end that the devs should iron out soon.

Photo of author

Written by Vikas

Hey, I am Vikas. I've had a longstanding passion for computing and gaming for over a decade now. With a computer science degree under my belt sparking my initial interest in the industry from a young age, you'll often find me immersed for hours in the latest PC titles, especially enjoying multiplayer online games, while also enjoying sharing my insights and reviews. My work has been featured on IGN, Kotaku, MSN and Forbes to name a few. In my spare time, I read books and play with my cats. You can read more about me here. My favorite games are Destiny 2, Warframe, COD Cold War, and Minecraft.

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