Along with the reveal of Sombra, Blizzard Entertainment are looking to introduce new game types, maps and features to Overwatch.
- Quickplay now has a single hero limit, and a new Arcade section will be introduced
- This section gathers multiple playlists on one page, and now rewards you for getting 3 wins in a playlist, giving you the chance to earn up to 3 more lootboxes each week.
- 1v1 Mystery Duel will be added, where each player is forced to play the same character (first to 5 wins, 9 rounds)
- 3v3 Elimination mode will also be added, a single-life elimination game-type with no respawning (first to 3 wins, 5 rounds)
- No Limits mode is pretty much how quickplay is now, letting you stack heroes in a game. Also making the most popular brawl, 6v6 Mystery Heroes a separate playlist
- The All Brawls mode is now a rotating playlist of current and new Brawl modes like Super Shimada Bros and MOBAwatch
- The Arcade section is an great way for Blizzard to provide occasional tweaks and additions to the playlists, also being a place where event-exclusive modes can be played, like Lucioball and Junkenstein’s Revenge.
New maps were shown, with one of them being the location where Mei was stationed, called Ecopoint Antarctica – this is a small map that will be mainly used for 1v1 and 3v3 modes. The map hints to what life was like on the station, and could shed some light onto Mei’s backstory.
Blizzard also announced a new Control/King-of-the-Hill map called Oasis, showing us a couple of work-in-progress screenshots. They are also experimenting with adding new mechanics to the gameplay, introducing a jumping pad on the map, that can be useful for characters with low mobility.
We can expect to see Sombra, Arcade and Ecopoint Antarctica on the Overwatch PTR this week. Sombra, Arcade and Ecopoint Antarctica are available now on the PTR! With plans to release Oasis on the PTR, sometime in December.