Overwatch is great, and it's awesome that colorblind options were even considered.  But they are bad and here's 3 reasons why.

1.  It does NOTHING for monochromatic colorblind players (true colorblindness)
2.  The color filter mutes all colors in the game, even ones you wouldn't need to differentiate, making the game look ugly
3.  The color filters cause new color problems when used

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1.  It does NOTHING for monochromatic colorblind players

So the way the colorblind filter works (in theory) is that it modifies the colors in the game that a colorblind gamer would have trouble with so that they are now other colors that the gamer can see.

What happens if you can't see any color at all?  Almost nothing.

You get a little change in how dark / bright some objects are, but monochromatic colorblind users get close to no functional benefit when it comes to getting information they need to play the game.

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In overwatch the major problem for this is that enemies are red and group members (not teammates) are green.  In a split second, you need to be able to know who is an ally and who is an enemy, or you potentially waste valuable time in a team fight trying to shoot at an ally.

This is a very similar situation to traffic lights.  They have a green and a red light which you need to know the difference between or end up in an accident.  I know there are different positions on a traffic light, but some regions use horizontal lights instead of traditional vertically stacked lights, so it's possible in some scenarios you need to rely solely on color.

So, if you were colorblind, what solution would you prefer

1.  Changing your entier vision so that **all** reds and greens were dull yet distinguishable
2.  Changing the colors on the traffic light

Obviously you want #2.  Otherwise grass is no longer green and flowers are no longer red.  Which is kind of the solution that was implemented for traffic lights.  The green light is a very white green, which makes it easy to distinguish.

My point I'm trying to make is that the colorblind solution in Overwatch is overkill.  You don't want to have to sacrifice the beauty of a game for what should be core functionality.

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[Take a look at the settings when you enable the Deuteranopic filter](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6Ha8zpA5jds/maxresdefault.jpg)

The first problem is that the color for enemies is a muted, dull pink.  The color for enemies is supposed to be vibrant and noticeable and one of the first things you notice when looking at the screen.  That's why game designers always choose red for enemies.  In addition to being associated with blood, war, and violence, Red is the most noticeable color.

The pink enemy color doesn't pop at all.  The color that does pop the most looks like the group color.  Which leads to the other problem:  The group color looks red!  If I had to choose one of those four colors to use for enemies in a game, I would end up using the Group color.

So instead of making things more accessible and resolving some confusion with colors, the Deuteranopic filter adds some confusion to the mix.

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A good solution for all of these problems is to allow the player to choose the color of HUD elements and include some kind of textured pattern (stripes, checkers) so that Monochromats can have some accessibility