Blizzard’s extremely popular online team-based shooter, Overwatch, is getting a new feature in a big way. The game recently had its Developer Update, hosted by Game Director Jeff Kaplan, in which he announced that Overwatch will be receiving a BlizzCon-only in game spectator mode. The new mode, dubbed the Overwatch World Cup Viewer, will be available only during the event when Overwatch World Cup Tournament matches are taking place.
The feature will only be available for PC, and will allow you to watch any of the World Cup matches from any perspective. This is a great way for viewers to see any plays during a match that the main cameras miss, especially when they tend to switch multiple times during many points in a single match. In addition, you’ll be able to replay the matches with different camera speeds, so you can slow down that epic moment when Reaper comes in with a Team-Wiping Ultimate. The feature will be released through a special edition of Overwatch, and as mentioned earlier, will only focus on the World Cup during BlizzCon 2018.
Another thing that was mentioned in the update was BlizzCon itself. In a similar way to the Diablo and World of Warcraft Classic posts, in an attempt to temper the fans, Kaplan states in the video that they will not be announcing any new maps for Overwatch during the Opening Ceremony. Kaplan’s reasoning was that during last years BlizzCon when he announced two new maps, Blizzard World and Oasis, “they got a bit lost in the shuffle, they didn’t have as big of an impact as we wanted.” He makes a fair point, as a lot of announcements and reveals made during the Opening Ceremony tend to steal the thunder from one or the other.
Despite the lack of new maps being revealed, Kaplan states that they still have some “awesome” announcements once BlizzCon arrives. Hopefully those announcements involve some new playable heroes and game modes. The other updates mentioned are in regards to buffs being made to four heroes, Reaper, Roadhog, Symmetra, and most notably Mercy, who has been nerfed in subsequent updates over the past couple of years. There are a lot of other minor details that are being worked on the Public Testing Region (PTR) right now for Overwatch, which you can check out here.
Overwatch is just one of the Blizzard franchises that will be shown at BlizzCon 2018, which runs from Friday, November 2 to Saturday, November 3. For those attending the convention, the company has the full schedule/map live on their website here. You can also check out the Overwatch Developer Update here: