In my opinion it's not a fair comparison because:The cost factor isn't about Atmos, it's about 21:9. I agree that if we're talking about cost alienation, there isn't a comparison. I'm just pointing out that Blizzard's excuse that they're not implementing true 21:9 because of "fairness" is bullocks. They put in a ton of effort allowing for a greater game experience for people playing with better audio set ups, but apparently a wider view for people with a different screen setup which every other shooter does support, is a bridge too far. That's all I find laughable. That was the point I was trying to make, not about the cost issue, because otherwise we could be debating graphics cards and all sorts of stuff. In terms of tech implementation in options creating an "unfair" advantage, it's already right there! Most shooters don't have half the audio experience Overwatch does. Yet they felt it was worth it! (It is.)
Having more peripheral vision is a more significant boost, in my opinion, than hearing better with a good audio setup. It also specifically affects certain ingame things like Soldier 76 ult / McCree ult trying to keep everyone in view. I know you can hit people out of your FOV, but being able to SEE that you're going to hit them can be important.quake has a fov limit for fairness reasons
you basically don't want to encourage people to buy extra displays to see more of their surroundings
if serious players with 21:9 displays need to letterbox into 16:9 to get the maximum fov, it's the lesser evil
This move seems like a reasonable compromise to me.