Category: Overwatch News

Overwatch players looking to ramp up their Hero levels will definitely want to check into the game from June 8th to June 12th for a double XP weekend. All sources of XP will be active. At the conclusion of the weekend, the Overwatch first anniversary event will officially end. It’s a great opportunity to get hold of a few more of the special anniversary loot crates too.

Blizzard has released a cinematic trailer for the next Overwatch map. Horizon Lunar Colony Assault is now live on the PTR and, as the name implies takes place on the moon. Narrated by Winston, he reminds players that “someday we’ll have to go back”.

Blizzard’s Overwatch team is at it again with a new blog post and several images that speak about the Horizon Lunar Colony. You may recall that this is where we first learned about Winston and the Lucheng Interstellar was working to raise genetically superior gorillas. The lunar colony went offline after the gorillas rebelled and nothing has been heard from it since…until this blog post appeared.

In celebration of the Overwatch first anniversary, Blizzard is swinging open the doors to invite everyone in for a weekend of fun. From May 26th to May 29th, players on XBox One, PC and PlayStation 4 can take part in the game with no restrictions. All 24 heroes and 14 maps are available as well as all game modes. In addition, players can level, earn Loot Crates, customize their heroes an more.

Overwatch players will want to head into the game to try out the new anniversary event in celebration of its first birthday. Players can check out three brand new Arenas (found in the Arcade) and get hold of over a hundred anniversary rewards that include new skins, emotes, voice lines, sprays and more. Special Anniversary Loot Boxes are also available for purchase, though they will remain locked until after June 12th.

Overwatch League is the program being implemented by Blizzard to rival professional sports organizations such as the NFL or NBA. As with most major league sports, a “minor league” system is put into place for up-and-coming players. Blizzard has just announced Overwatch Contenders, a “development league for aspiring Overwatch League professionals”.

The Overwatch EU team sent out a tweet to tease a trio of arena maps coming to the game along with the anniversary celebration scheduled to begin on May 23rd. These are small-scale team arenas seemingly taken from the larger Dorado, Temple of Anubis and Eichenwalde maps. These new maps will expand the 1v1 and 3v3 game modes with a more structured map environment with possibly more ties to eSports and ranked competitive play.

The Overwatch team has put out a celebratory video for the game’s first anniversary taking a look back at some of the most memorable moments of its history. The event will begin in May 23rd and it’s expected that we will see some new game modes, new skins / voice lines / sprays etc. as well.

Fans of Overwatch will be pleased to hear that The Art of Overwatch (standard & limited editions) will be coming out on October 24th. In addition, an anthology edition of all of the released Overwatch comics to date will be released on October 10th.

Blizzard is investing itself heavily in eSports with the recent announcement of a dedicated division called Major League Gaming (purchased in 2015) that will oversee the Overwatch League and World Cup. Franchise costs reportedly are in the $20M range causing many professional eSports teams to disband their Overwatch divisions. By comparison, League of Legends Championship Series sports a $1.8M price tag.