Overwatch hasn't launched a new hero or a new official game map for more than two years.
And now, for Overwatch players, the long wait for updates is finally coming to an end.
Earlier this year, Overwatch Returns (i.e., Overwatch 2) was tested in out-of-service. Then at the Xbox launch a few days ago, the game was determined to turn on early access in PVP mode on October 4 and play for free. The national service will be launched on October 5.
If that's not exciting enough, the revelations from Blizzard's content preview this morning are a real glimpse into the future of Overwatch.
What did Blizzard say?
A picture to summarize is the following route update map:
Expand in more detail:
On October 4th/5th, 3 new heroes were released – Sojjn (Output Hero), Queen Scumbag (Heavy Hero) and a Fox-related support hero whose details have not yet been released.
This is Queen Scumbag's CG animation "WastedMan":
Queen Scum is a hero developed by the development team based entirely on the 5v5 battle mode, featuring the life of enemy heroes, with a recallable giant axe, and the ultimate skill is to unleash the giant axe to form a whirlwind and sprint forward.
6 new maps: Rio de Paris, New Queen Street in Toronto, Midtown in New York, Colosseum in Rome, The Royal Circuit in Portugal (perhaps Lisbon) and Monte Carlo.
Some older maps will be adjusted to the 5v5 mode.
More than 30 new skins. Among the existing skins, a new "Mythical Skin" with a higher rarity level has been added - the Mythical Skin allows the player to customize it.
Other skins shown in the show:
Witch Angel?
In addition to skins, appearance items such as weapon pendants and flags will be added.
Of course, there will be a new battle order (i.e. Battle Pass). After moving from the original paid buyout system to a "return" free operation, battle orders may be the main revenue point of the game. The original supply box system was determined to be abolished.
A post-match report is provided after a competitive mode game, and you can view detailed match data to improve yourself. In addition, competitive levels will not be presented as numerical values and will be incorporated into larger tiers.
Season 1 lasts about 9 weeks, followed by a second season on December 6, with new reloaded heroes, maps, myth skins, and more.
In the future, the hero update frequency should be one hero every other season, that is, about one hero every four months.
And PvE, which many players are eagerly awaiting, is sure to go live in 2023.
PvE will advance overwatch storylines, tell the story of Overwatch regrouping, and showcase the birthplaces of heroes. The heroes of the first and new generations will appear.
During the live broadcast, the development team mentioned a word several times:
Periodic updates。 Hopefully, the development team can do that.
Overwatch Returns will kick off its second round of testing on June 28, when Queen Scumbag and the new map will be available. At present, the official has not yet announced how to obtain the test qualification.