Maps almost twice as large as existing ones will be released on Overwatch 2

In an interview with Playstation Blog, Justin Massongill — Sony's social media manager — was able to ask questions to Overwatch's deputy director Aaron Keller and head writer Michael Chu about the new details of the gameplay, the new design and narrative of Overwatch 2.

Overwatch 2 targets

Announced last November at BlizzCon, Overwatch 2 will give players a new experience through PvE missions against AI. These missions will offer a cooperative experience that can be played by several people, where each hero can be improved and used in a different way according to their selected abilities and power level.

Overwatch 1 will have laid the foundations around the heroes, the conflicts and the main plot. It is now time to know how Overwatch agents will act for the good of nations, how the world will react to the announcement of their return and especially if Overwatch is really the solution that the world needs.

The evolution of the proposed content

Overwatch 2 also gives us the opportunity on the tech side to tell more story. The maps are almost 2X larger than regular Overwatch maps. They’ve also got way more advanced technology to show dynamic weather, lightning, explosions, and more. We like to say that our maps are almost another character in helping with Overwatch 2 storytelling. Each Story Mission will come with an intro cinematic and outro cinematic as well. We’ve partnered with our teammates in the Story and Franchise team to help build out many cinematics for story missions, which we think will be a major treat for our players.

Aaron Keller on the evolution of maps and story modes

Four new known maps will be released with Overwatch 2: Gothenburg, Monte Carlo, Rio de Janeiro and Toronto. The Canadian map will feature the new Push game mode — a symmetrical map in which teams will have to fight to take control of a robot (TW-1) located in the middle of the map and advance it to the enemy base. Each team will be able to take control of the robot at any time. The team that pushes the robot the farthest into the enemy area will win the game!

The Rio de Janeiro map will host the game's first PvE mission. Mei, Tracer, Reinhardt and Lucio will have to make their way through the omniac-infested streets to reach the flagship and destroy the manufacturing plant before the city gets besieged.

The interview also tells us that the PvE and PvP progression will be completely separate so that the modifiable abilities don't bring an imbalance to the game. However, Blizzard is still working on what players could earn in PvE while developing a progression system so that missions can be played and replayed for several hours. The issue of cosmetics has been addressed but is not yet the priority of the development team, with narration and gameplay taking precedence.

Overwatch: the evolution of Mercy in the history of Overwatch and her lore

During the Mercy's Recall Challenge, Blizzard has reviewed Angela Ziegler's journey — brilliant doctor and iconic heroine known as Mercy.