[2019] Demonstration of how Sombra's detection hitbox works

As you all (most likely) know, the Sombra's invisibility detection has a radius of 2 meters - which means that if enemy is 2 meters (or less) away, while you (as Sombra) are invisible, you should get detected. Which, for the enemy, works (mostly) fine. But what about Sombra herself?

I decided to dig a little bit around how that "2 meter radius" detection hitbox works, and, thanks to the magic of the Workshop, I created the video demonstrating how broken can it be* (it's this white, semi-transparent sphere).

*It's just a simulation for demonstration purposes only and might not be an actual representation of Sombra's detection hitbox

For any of you wondering what is this small green sphere on the video - it's an indicator where invisible Sombra is looking.

If you are not in the mood to watch the video, here is a short explanation (but it's much easier to understand if you watch the video, I promise):

The hitbox has it's origin (most likely) placed somewhere on Sombra's feet, and it's attached to the camera. It means that the hitbox follows the camera rotation, and it rotates around her (a point in Sombra's head). Because of the offset between camera and the hitbox origin, the hitbox moves when you look around (if you look down, the hitbox moves behind you, and look up - in front of you). But for the enemy, the detection doesn't use the same hitbox - which means that from Sombra's POV she might not be detected, but from enemy's perspective she is. This can cause a lot of confusion for the Sombra player.

You can see that bug affecting real life gameplay in this clip from Fitzyhere stream. Fitzy was killed by Doomfist while being invisible and not having the DETECTED notification on screen, but on the replay, from Doomsfist's POV, Fitzy was detected.

If you are curious and would like to check out the "simulator", here's the code workshop code: AF9ZG. Make sure you are on Team 1 and add one bot to Team 2. When you start the game, pick Sombra.

Controls:

Ultimate - turn on/off side camera

Interact - teleport enemy:

1. In front of Sombra
2. On top of Sombra
3. Under the Sombra

Here you can find the bug report on Overwatch forums about this issue.

So, if you are a Sombra player, try to not look down while sneaking around enemies when invisible. And for the other players, this bug doesn't (fully) apply to you, so you should be safe - just be nice to all Sombra players and don't shoot them while they are invisible but you have detected them - they might not know that the detection is broken ❤

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