Next Overwatch patch will require full reinstall

Blizzard has just announced that the subsequent major update for Overwatch will require that players reinstall the entire client. Among other things, the patch will introduce Ashe, the newest playable character.

Without going into detail, Blizzard is apparently making “fundamental changes” which are so significant that they cannot just be patched over and necessitates a complete reinstall.

A post on the official forums detailing the reasoning:

“Hey folks,
We wanted to get ahead of this early and let you all know what to expect with our next big patch. We don’t currently have a release date/time with this, but will update this thread once we do.
The next major patch will have some pretty fundamental changes to the game client. The number of back-end changes we’re putting in is substantial enough that we can’t just patch over the current content efficiently. As a result, when the next patch comes out, the client will fully reinstall itself to handle these changes. We know that this isn’t ideal for people on metered connections, so hopefully this announcement helps you prepare for this coming update.
Thanks for your patience with this matter, and we’ll see you all in game!”
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Although no dates were disclosed, we are most likely going to see the update for Overwatch go live on 13 November 2018 or 15 November 2018.