The hugely popular Overwatch is about to return with its latest seasonal event, ‘Summer Games’, which of course brings with it a stack of new items and modes – but the most exciting part for Sydneysiders is a surprise new map.
The new Sydney arena features the Opera House rendered in the game’s cartoony near-future style, and will appear in the game’s ‘Lucioball’ mode, which sees two teams face off in a gun-based approximation of soccer, in keeping with the annual event’s sporting theme.
Announced by Overwatch lead Jeff Kaplan, the new map will arrive in the next update, set to hit PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners on August 8, along with new skins for a variety of characters, including something special for the game’s Aussie character Junkrat (we’ll put our bets on cricket-themed attire, with shiny red balls for bombs).
Lucioball will also see some changes, with Lucio’s ult working to buff his speed and power rather than mess with the ball, and his rage-inducing ‘boop’ attack no longer able to interfere with opposition players.
Plus, a new competitive mode named ‘Copa Lucioball’ will give players the chance to track their abilities in a ranked playlist, earning their way to the top of the pile over three weeks for the chance to win a special spray.
Whatever else this year’s ‘Summer Games’ has in store for us, it’ll be made all the sweeter being able to compete on home turf for the first time – check out all of the updates in game director Jeff Kaplan’s developer update below.
