The Overwatch team is working on a lot of new maps. Three of them are expected to be released in 2017.
In just a month, Overwatch will celebrate its first birthday. While 3 new heroes were released during the first year, there were only 2 fresh maps (Oasis and Eichenwalde).
In the official forum, user lalato pointed out that this seems a bit low. Especially since it was said before the game’s release that the release of new maps was a high priority. He wanted to know from the developers what happened to this goal and when players could expect new maps.
Jeff Kaplan, the Game Director of Overwatch, took the time to address this issue.
He explained that the team is currently working on 3 brand new maps, all of which have already passed the “first gameplay test”. In the first gameplay test, developers check whether a map is enjoyable and makes sense. At this point, a map has no textures or many objects yet. However, since all 3 maps have passed this test, the developers are likely already working on the textures and the fine-tuning. All 3 maps are expected to be available for the regular game modes – namely Quick Play and Competitive Mode.
3 “special” maps also in development
Although he couldn’t make any promises, all 3 maps are supposed to be released in 2017. However, no specific dates were mentioned.
Additionally, the developers are working on “3 non-standard maps”. What exactly this entails is not clarified by Kaplan. It could involve new event maps, such as the Lúcioball arena or maps for other events. A variation of King’s Row was also used for the current “Uprising” event, which likely counts as a “non-standard map”.
What do you think? Is the selection of maps in Overwatch sufficient for you? Or do you need more maps, or else it gets boring?
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