Blizzard announced at Gamescom today that a new map is coming to Overwatch. Eichenwalde is the first new map to be added to the game after its initial launch. The map is set in scenic Germany and features a castle and its neighboring village. The map goes live in September, but at Gamescom, attendees can play at Blizzard’s booth.
During Blizzard’s Gamescom stream, Overwatch lead systems designer Aaron Keller said the team “wanted to have some gameplay that [it hadn’t] done before,” resulting in a play area that’s “very vertical” in the middle of the map. Additionally, you have to cross a drawbridge that leads into the castle at the end of the map. Principal designer Geoff Goodman noted that it was a “great Widowmaker spot.”
Keller also explained Bastion’s Origins skin, which makes the robot look like it came from a forest. “This is the forest where Bastion came from,” Keller said in reference to the Eichenwalde map. Blizzard also gave a sneak peek at the first episode of the second Overwatch animated series, starring Bastion, which will be released on Thursday.