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| 0s | good afternoon everybody our next panel |
|---|---|
| 2s | presentation will give you a glimpse |
| 4s | into the future here's OverWatch what's |
| 12s | [Applause] |
| 13s | [Music] |
| 22s | next hello Bliss |
| 24s | con it's hard to believe that we're |
| 27s | already more than halfway through Bliss |
| 30s | con is an event that I wish could last |
| 32s | the whole week during yesterday's |
| 35s | opening ceremony Aaron showed off a few |
| 37s | things the team is working |
| 40s | on it feels great being up here with |
| 43s | these brilliant people working on all of |
| 46s | the Fantastic things coming soon to |
| 48s | OverWatch |
| 50s | too I'd like to kick things off this |
| 52s | session with a quick |
| 54s | intro I've been OverWatch franchise GM |
| 57s | since November |
| 59s | 2021 while I spent most of my first year |
| 63s | as executive producer of OverWatch 2 I'm |
| 66s | now focused on Guiding OverWatch at the |
| 68s | franchise |
| 70s | level way back in |
| 73s | 2013 and early in my blizzard career the |
| 76s | company made the decision to move |
| 78s | forward with a project code named |
| 82s | Prometheus I remember sitting in the |
| 84s | room that day and seeing the look of |
| 87s | wonder in the eyes of everyone around |
| 89s | the table |
| 91s | it wasn't about numbers or Dev |
| 93s | schedules no the Magic in the room was |
| 97s | created by imagination imagination of |
| 100s | the adventures to come in the OverWatch |
| 103s | Universe I had a similar feeling again |
| 106s | at biscon in |
| 108s | 2014 I sat in the crowd at opening |
| 110s | ceremony and I literally held my breath |
| 114s | as the announcement of OverWatch |
| 116s | approached and uh as that OverWatch logo |
| 119s | came up at the end of the first ever |
| 122s | cinematic the love in the hall felt as |
| 125s | close to tangible as I've ever |
| 129s | experienced since then we've shared |
| 131s | OverWatch as team based PVP in the |
| 135s | original game and now in OverWatch 2 and |
| 138s | we also shared stories about our heroes |
| 141s | in our cinematic pieces comics and short |
| 145s | stories but there are more stories to |
| 147s | tell and brand new experiences big and |
| 151s | small to share in the |
| 153s | future as GM I'm leading the exploration |
| 157s | to push the frontiers of OverWatch and |
| 160s | to reach |
| 161s | Beyond but today we're very excited to |
| 164s | talk about the cool things coming to |
| 166s | OverWatch 2 we're going to show you |
| 168s | stuff that's very much work in progress |
| 172s | and perhaps tell you things that would |
| 173s | make marketing |
| 175s | nervous but we really want to give you |
| 177s | as much visibility as we can into the |
| 179s | future of the |
| 181s | game before I hand it off to my |
| 183s | teammates I have some high level context |
| 186s | on where we're taking OverWatch 2 and |
| 188s | our goals for the next |
| 191s | year we're focused on giving the |
| 193s | millions of players in our game each day |
| 196s | the very best PVP experience we |
| 199s | can while we'll be mixing in PVE events |
| 203s | and modes and progressing |
| 205s | storytelling our main goal for OverWatch |
| 207s | 2 is striving to make PVP gaml more |
| 211s | rewarding and more fun for today Our |
| 215s | intention is to focus primarily on how |
| 218s | we are aiming to improve those elements |
| 220s | of the game that we know are important |
| 223s | to so many of |
| 224s | you to go through it all we have members |
| 227s | of our Fantastic Team here I'd like to |
| 229s | hand it off to game director Aaron |
| 231s | Keller to introduce them thank |
| 236s | you thank you |
| 238s | Walter and hello |
| 241s | BlizzCon um yeah so we are excited to |
| 246s | share as many of the exciting things |
| 248s | that uh our team has been working on as |
| 251s | we can um I'm Aaron and I am joined by |
| 255s | our lead character concept artist Daryl |
| 260s | tan game producer Monica |
| 265s | Lee associate art director Peter Lee |
| 269s | hello |
| 270s | and Senior system designer Gavin |
| 274s | winter okay so let's kick things off and |
| 278s | get into it Peter can you tell talk to |
| 281s | us about Clash all right hello biscon I |
| 288s | wish I wish I have a you know Chris |
| 290s | meton voice what up |
| 293s | blon Focus all |
| 296s | right as you can see I am super excited |
| 299s | to be here and share some of the content |
| 302s | that we prepared U especially for uh |
| 305s | Clash map um so before I jump in uh let |
| 308s | me share a cool video with you guys um |
| 312s | so can we play the |
| 315s | video all right is this map looks |
| 319s | familiar to |
| 323s | everyone cool uh yeah hanamura is one of |
| 326s | my favorite map um like you know we'll |
| 329s | talk more about about that but uh you |
| 331s | know before I jump in um everything we |
| 333s | are going to see today is you know very |
| 336s | work in progress and as a matter of fact |
| 339s | like we were making a lot of changes |
| 341s | even this week also so uh please you |
| 344s | know look at this uh you know |
| 345s | screenshots and videos and Concepts uh |
| 347s | you know as that uh you know inside of |
| 351s | your mind um you know that big building |
| 353s | in the back looks pretty familiar too I |
| 357s | I I think that looks awesome |
| 361s | and we'll talk more about that um yeah |
| 364s | so our uh original 2cp Maps were |
| 369s | absolutely gorgeous um however due to |
| 372s | challenges we had with the two mode uh |
| 375s | you know we had to remove some of those |
| 378s | iconic Maps um you know from our |
| 380s | rotation including |
| 382s | hanamura um they're beautiful like a |
| 386s | lots of beautiful maps in our game of |
| 388s | you know yet Han in particular has a |
| 392s | special place in our hearts for uh you |
| 394s | know many reasons um Let me let me share |
| 398s | my story um you know when you are trying |
| 400s | to create a world that no one has seen |
| 404s | before you know there's a little bit of |
| 407s | you know uncertainty and a lot of |
| 409s | question as you can imagine like am I |
| 412s | doing it right what is the world that we |
| 415s | are trying to build |
| 418s | Aaron um |
| 420s | and and as what Chris madon you know |
| 423s | mentioned yesterday um sometimes very |
| 427s | epic thing um you I can't start with a |
| 432s | small |
| 433s | heart felt yeah H SP moment and uh you |
| 439s | know this is you know the perfect |
| 440s | example I still remember the day that I |
| 444s | created this concept um you know I was |
| 447s | walking down the back alley of uh you |
| 449s | know the Japan Street with the you know |
| 452s | the Google Map and I got obsessed about |
| 456s | a small mom and pop store and I loved it |
| 460s | and I was thinking yes let's expand this |
| 464s | world with our lands it was a magical |
| 468s | moment that I cannot |
| 470s | forget just like that haramura was one |
| 473s | of the first location that really made a |
| 477s | team Feel This Is It this this is |
| 481s | OverWatch yes we can build this world |
| 485s | our vision of this universe instantly |
| 488s | became uh clear so um after we retired |
| 492s | some of those iconic Maps uh you know we |
| 495s | have wanted to find a way to bring them |
| 498s | back because hanamura is loved and known |
| 502s | to our players and to our characters um |
| 506s | also there were so many stories that we |
| 509s | had developed around this city right so |
| 514s | um you know now with this new Clash mode |
| 517s | uh it was our perfect opportunity to |
| 519s | bring uh you know our hanamura back uh |
| 523s | however the big question was uh how can |
| 527s | we do this without making it feel |
| 530s | artificial um you know considering we |
| 532s | did not want to remove the original |
| 535s | location from our game instead like we |
| 539s | wanted to to expand the world because |
| 543s | identity is so important in our game um |
| 546s | so we made a new section of |
| 550s | hanamura a street right next to the |
| 553s | original map and we named our map hanoka |
| 557s | meaning Flower Hill you know you can |
| 561s | picture the image |
| 562s | right um when you play this map uh you |
| 566s | know you can't even see some section of |
| 569s | the or hanamura uh you know the map in |
| 571s | the backdrop uh as you can see in this |
| 575s | screenshot you know there is a famous |
| 578s | Ricky Maru ramian shop um and you know |
| 581s | you can see the gate right behind it |
| 585s | right we all know what that gate is |
| 588s | that's famous choke point |
| 590s | yeah yeah so uh you know uh when you |
| 596s | play this in a game like you should be |
| 597s | able to tell where you are |
| 600s | roughly um and uh during this process we |
| 604s | also made a few new assets that can hint |
| 608s | at the stories of uh you know shimata |
| 611s | Clan and Hashimoto Clan uh also kir the |
| 615s | Yokai group uh and many others so as an |
| 619s | example uh you know what you're seeing |
| 621s | on the screen uh the tiger represent you |
| 624s | know hash Moro Clan and the dragon |
| 627s | represent the Shar clan in our story |
| 630s | um so we you know we created this a new |
| 633s | wall painting So subtly melting the |
| 636s | story into our uh |
| 639s | environment I don't know if you can feel |
| 641s | it but uh you know every step and |
| 643s | decision we made for this hanoka map was |
| 647s | pretty exciting personally as a fanboy |
| 651s | and I hope this map also makes you |
| 654s | excited as well yeah that joy that |
| 658s | uh |
| 664s | that joy that Peter and his team have |
| 665s | put into the hannaha map really is |
| 668s | infectious and we're very excited for |
| 671s | players that loved hanamura to |
| 673s | re-experience it and for players that |
| 675s | are knew to feel that Wonder for the |
| 677s | first |
| 678s | time all of our maps are these beautiful |
| 681s | works and Hannah Oka pushes that even |
| 685s | further thanks Peter thank |
| 688s | you |
| 692s | yeah so clash it's the third new game |
| 696s | mode that we've made for for OverWatch 2 |
| 698s | the third new game mode we've made for |
| 700s | all of OverWatch after push and flasho I |
| 702s | think it's probably important to go into |
| 704s | a bit of why we even make new game modes |
| 707s | for OverWatch we we think it's really |
| 709s | important to always be developing new |
| 711s | maps and we we put out um several of |
| 714s | them every year but each time we do it |
| 717s | when we build a map for a a known game |
| 720s | mode one that we already have we can |
| 722s | only make so many changes to that map um |
| 725s | like an escort map it it's always going |
| 728s | to have three sections and we use um |
| 731s | really hard Corners in those to provide |
| 733s | choke points um um for for the um for |
| 736s | the offense to get through um we try to |
| 740s | provide as much Variety in those but we |
| 742s | really can't make something completely |
| 744s | different until we start working on an |
| 748s | entirely new type of objective entirely |
| 750s | new types of game modes like if you look |
| 752s | at something like one of our escort Maps |
| 755s | like Dorado and then you compare that to |
| 757s | something like our flasho map like |
| 760s | surasa you can see those are very |
| 763s | different levels and they provide |
| 766s | different um a different type of |
| 768s | gameplay experience too there's there's |
| 770s | different strategies when you play on |
| 772s | different types of game modes there's |
| 774s | different Heroes and team compositions |
| 776s | that you might want to pick so we think |
| 778s | it's really important for us to continue |
| 780s | to do that um I don't know like um how |
| 784s | long we'll continually make like a new |
| 787s | game mode every year um but we're not at |
| 790s | the point where we think we ought to |
| 791s | stop yet um and so let's let's talk a |
| 794s | little bit about um the history of of |
| 798s | clash and the history of 5cp because |
| 800s | Clash has five control points laid out |
| 802s | in a row this is not the first time the |
| 805s | OverWatch team um has tried to make a |
| 808s | 5cp MCH we originally started making it |
| 811s | for volskaya um volskaya heavy industry |
| 815s | started as a 5cp map our early |
| 817s | prototypes um were of that and we had |
| 820s | like five control points laid out in a |
| 823s | row and originally we called it iron |
| 825s | star these images right here um were |
| 828s | were pieces that Peter did um a long |
| 831s | time ago as we were working on iron star |
| 834s | and I think you did these when we were |
| 836s | on Project Titan before OverWatch right |
| 839s | mhm mhm yeah how old are these images do |
| 842s | you think I don't exactly recall but I |
| 846s | like it it looks |
| 847s | cool like maybe 2010 or something like |
| 851s | that and so we even had um five CP maps |
| 854s | on Project Titan that we were doing um |
| 857s | and we even had a variant of it that was |
| 859s | um a 3cp map U and when you look at 3cp |
| 863s | where there's like a point in the middle |
| 865s | and one on each side it's almost like a |
| 867s | symmetrical version of assault or what |
| 871s | the community would call 2cp for |
| 873s | OverWatch um I'm assuming most of you |
| 875s | know what it is if you're new to to |
| 878s | OverWatch 2 and didn't play the original |
| 880s | game 2cp was a game mode where there was |
| 883s | an offense and a defense and the offense |
| 885s | would try to capture two control points |
| 887s | in a row um and we had a lot of issues |
| 891s | with 2cp um that we were never really |
| 894s | able to solve um and the two biggest |
| 896s | ones they're related to each other um |
| 899s | the offense um sometimes would just get |
| 902s | stalled out at the first choke point in |
| 904s | an assault map and the way those Maps |
| 905s | were designed because there was only two |
| 907s | objectives we really favored the defense |
| 910s | from a level design point of view but |
| 912s | sometimes the offense would make no |
| 914s | progress in the map time would run out |
| 916s | they would lose it felt like the match |
| 918s | had like no story to it almost like |
| 921s | nothing even happened over the course of |
| 923s | that game and on the other side |
| 925s | sometimes because OverWatch can be a |
| 927s | game that snowballs a bit the offense |
| 929s | would get an early pick they'd win a |
| 931s | team fight instantly take the first |
| 934s | point they'd all have their SS run to |
| 936s | point um to point B um Wipe Out the |
| 939s | enemy team and then like win the whole |
| 941s | game or the round if it was competitive |
| 943s | and they could do all of this in under a |
| 945s | minute 30 seconds sometimes yeah in 30 |
| 948s | seconds in like the most extreme |
| 949s | examples and it just felt like on the |
| 951s | defense you had like no opportunity to |
| 955s | respond to that like the answer was like |
| 957s | you shouldn't have one person die very |
| 959s | early in the match you know and it's |
| 960s | like it just it didn't work so we spent |
| 962s | months and months trying to fix it and |
| 964s | we never were really able to come up |
| 966s | with something that worked that didn't |
| 968s | require us to completely rebuild some of |
| 971s | those Maps one of the things we did try |
| 973s | was we like greatly expanded the cap |
| 975s | time um for those control points it's |
| 977s | like over a minute to take them some of |
| 979s | the time um and um there is some promise |
| 983s | there was a lot of fun but the way those |
| 985s | maps are built defending a point from |
| 988s | the defense |
| 989s | never really worked the map geometry um |
| 993s | didn't didn't really like let that |
| 995s | happen in like a fluid way but we kind |
| 997s | of always kept that in the back of our |
| 998s | mind so when we started to develop Clash |
| 1002s | we we thought of some of those |
| 1003s | experiments because we knew the |
| 1005s | community um had a love for for assault |
| 1009s | a love for |
| 1010s | 2cp um because when it played right it |
| 1013s | was pretty amazing like I really loved |
| 1015s | assault um and so we started thinking of |
| 1019s | a version of it um or it maybe it's not |
| 1021s | a successor but at least some of the |
| 1023s | mechanics were inspired by 2cp and so we |
| 1026s | started working on Clash um and so let's |
| 1029s | like I can I can get into a bit of the |
| 1031s | rules and the way Clash Works um that I |
| 1034s | guess was the Preamble for the way um |
| 1036s | Clash Works um I was a history major I |
| 1040s | always like go into the past before I |
| 1042s | get to the Future sorry um so yeah so |
| 1045s | there are five control points um and in |
| 1048s | at the start of the game each team owns |
| 1050s | the two control points that are closest |
| 1052s | to their side of the map and the middle |
| 1055s | point is the neutral control Point |
| 1057s | that's the one that both teams are going |
| 1059s | to fight over um for all the people here |
| 1061s | at BlizzCon you can think of it as |
| 1064s | BlizzCon Point C is the OverWatch World |
| 1067s | Cup the arena over here is point a and |
| 1069s | the warcraft section is point e all the |
| 1072s | way down at the at the other end of the |
| 1074s | Halls um so um the the center control |
| 1078s | point is is going going to unlock and |
| 1080s | both teams fight over that when one team |
| 1082s | captures that the um a new control point |
| 1086s | is going to unlock in the direction that |
| 1088s | the offense is moving if you've played |
| 1091s | other multiplayer games with 5 CP |
| 1094s | typically those have two control points |
| 1096s | active at any time um we don't do it |
| 1099s | here um we just have one at a time every |
| 1102s | time we've tried to make more than one |
| 1105s | objective active for OverWatch the game |
| 1108s | just doesn't work the same as it does |
| 1110s | like some of the magic is gone um the |
| 1114s | the ma like the magic of OverWatch is |
| 1116s | two teams working together for a common |
| 1118s | objective and the heroes um sort of like |
| 1121s | relying on each other to do that um so |
| 1124s | the in this example um Point D would |
| 1126s | unlock um if um Team One were to take |
| 1130s | Point D they would um then point e would |
| 1133s | unlock and if they were to actually go |
| 1135s | all the way through and capture Point e |
| 1138s | um then team one would win um it doesn't |
| 1141s | happen that often it's it's very |
| 1143s | defensive favor at that point it even |
| 1145s | takes longer um to capture um as as the |
| 1148s | offense um and so typically this match |
| 1151s | starts moving back and forth and the |
| 1154s | offense um will push a certain a certain |
| 1156s | distance and then they won't take the |
| 1158s | next point the defense will take it and |
| 1160s | then the defense starts moving so it |
| 1162s | almost feels a little bit like 2 CP but |
| 1164s | you're moving back and forth across the |
| 1166s | map um each of these um points say when |
| 1169s | you take one your team will score a |
| 1171s | point so we do have a maximum score in |
| 1173s | there um sometimes 5cp can devolve into |
| 1176s | these hourlong matches where nobody's |
| 1179s | able to push all the way through um |
| 1181s | that's our early out in this phase where |
| 1183s | you get to a certain score we're still |
| 1184s | tuning that right now but you'll hit a |
| 1186s | certain score and then your team will |
| 1188s | also win right there Aaron would you say |
| 1190s | it's our sweatiest game mode yet some |
| 1192s | people on the team say that this is like |
| 1195s | the sweatiest version of OverWatch cuz |
| 1197s | you do move back and forth a lot you |
| 1200s | have a lot of moments where um there |
| 1202s | there's a lot less chokes in a map like |
| 1204s | this we don't have the same sort of |
| 1206s | chokes that 2cp did so there's a lot of |
| 1209s | free movement back and forth and there's |
| 1210s | a lot of cool strategies you can have |
| 1212s | you know you're going to take a point |
| 1214s | sometimes and you start pushing your |
| 1216s | team forward to start just getting a |
| 1218s | positional advantage on the next one it |
| 1220s | could be really fun yeah something I |
| 1222s | really like about you know this process |
| 1224s | that you know we were um you know |
| 1226s | developing this game um like not like |
| 1229s | you know we wait a long time before we |
| 1232s | uh you know finalize anything and like |
| 1234s | we were just like quickly building it |
| 1236s | and blocking it out and put it in the |
| 1238s | game and test it and get the fitback and |
| 1240s | fix it and put it rep put it in the game |
| 1243s | so you know that kind of uh uh uh uh you |
| 1245s | know collaboration you know between our |
| 1247s | team members was very meaningful and in |
| 1250s | a way you know very similar to uh this |
| 1254s | the fast sweetest game mode uh you know |
| 1257s | the fastpac you know the game mode it's |
| 1260s | like really interesting to think about |
| 1262s | like the team really came together for |
| 1263s | this our our team has grown a lot over |
| 1266s | the years we have a lot of new people on |
| 1268s | the OverWatch team and this is the first |
| 1270s | time that we've actually created a new |
| 1272s | game mode from scratch with all new |
| 1274s | people on the team Gavin winter was a |
| 1277s | part of it um the Le level designer on |
| 1279s | it Morton um he wasn't on the original |
| 1282s | OverWatch and so these people like |
| 1284s | really came together and it's like this |
| 1285s | new team this new group of people that |
| 1287s | were able to pull this off I'm like so |
| 1289s | proud of all of them um to be able to do |
| 1291s | something like |
| 1294s | this okay um so that's Clash um and |
| 1299s | we're going to talk a lot more about PVP |
| 1302s | changes coming to the game and heroes |
| 1304s | but before we get into that Monica can |
| 1306s | you get into some of the PVE updates |
| 1308s | that are coming yeah super excited to be |
| 1311s | here chatting with you guys um you know |
| 1313s | PB encompasses so many different things |
| 1315s | and we are working on some really fun |
| 1317s | stuff for next year uh for most of it we |
| 1320s | don't have any specifics that we can |
| 1321s | share just yet uh I know I'm a monster |
| 1324s | I'm sorry uh but it's it's really |
| 1326s | awesome to see how invested people are |
| 1328s | and what's going to happen with the |
| 1329s | OverWatch story uh both Canon and |
| 1331s | non-canon with the heroes and the |
| 1333s | universe uh the team has received some |
| 1335s | really great feedback from players that |
| 1337s | we're going through and we're using all |
| 1339s | of that to inform how we develop all of |
| 1340s | the cool stuff coming next uh but for |
| 1343s | right now I'm really excited to share |
| 1345s | some major updates coming in season 8 |
| 1347s | for hero mastery |
| 1349s | the thing that I really love about |
| 1350s | OverWatch is that it isn't just one |
| 1352s | thing there is something for everyone |
| 1354s | for folks that wanted a solo Challenge |
| 1356s | and leaderboard experience we introduced |
| 1358s | hero Mastery this past September it's |
| 1361s | been so much fun for us to see players |
| 1363s | in the courses trying to top their |
| 1364s | previous scores and get better so we're |
| 1366s | really excited to expand the roster of |
| 1368s | playable Heroes the scores go to the |
| 1370s | 100th of a second now it's too |
| 1373s | op coming in season 8 we'll have five |
| 1376s | new Heroes joining hero mastery |
| 1379s | those will be Diva Eko Genji Lucio and |
| 1385s | [Applause] |
| 1388s | may plus we're also excited to have |
| 1391s | leaderboard resets go live with this |
| 1393s | update and we'll also be introducing |
| 1395s | replay bookmarks so you could rewatch |
| 1397s | parts of your gameplay and look for |
| 1398s | areas to improve your score I really |
| 1401s | enjoyed you a her Mastery uh you |
| 1403s | personally uh you know as of being you |
| 1405s | know support main I don't supp support |
| 1408s | main |
| 1408s | [Laughter] |
| 1412s | um yeah as of being you know support |
| 1413s | main you I don't get to play the tank |
| 1416s | too much like I wanted to uh you know |
| 1418s | expand my uh you know hero roster um but |
| 1422s | uh you know I didn't have a proper |
| 1424s | introduction to you know that role so |
| 1426s | hero Mastery was you know the perfect |
| 1428s | opportunity for me to jump in um and you |
| 1431s | know like practice my skill and |
| 1434s | especially you know when I was you know |
| 1436s | doing that with r art like like it was |
| 1439s | such a great moment for you know for me |
| 1442s | to learn the like a control of you know |
| 1445s | charge when to charge went how to stop |
| 1447s | like how early should I stop so that was |
| 1450s | just you know the very fun moment you |
| 1452s | know that I had with a hero Mastery are |
| 1455s | you at top 500 Reinhardt now getting |
| 1458s | close close |
| 1460s | soon keeping with the philosophy of |
| 1462s | having something for everyone uh we |
| 1464s | don't want to limit the Hero Mass year |
| 1465s | experience for folks who want to play |
| 1467s | with their friends or maybe meet new |
| 1468s | ones in game for me OverWatch has been a |
| 1471s | social game and we're really looking |
| 1472s | forward to bringing that into hero |
| 1474s | Mastery next year with hero Mastery |
| 1478s | Gauntlet uh this new three-player co-op |
| 1480s | mode uh features the hero Mastery art |
| 1482s | kit Bots and all new gameplay that is |
| 1485s | focused on enemy waves and Tower Defense |
| 1487s | we have some work in progress footage up |
| 1489s | here where you could see the three |
| 1491s | Gauntlet Towers which are our objective |
| 1493s | points the goal for the team is to |
| 1495s | defend the towers from attacking Bots |
| 1497s | there will be exploding Bots flying Bots |
| 1500s | all sort of varieties there and it's |
| 1502s | really fun to challenge juggling the |
| 1504s | defense of three towers the different |
| 1506s | kinds of bots and different ways to |
| 1507s | power up um and so as a result you want |
| 1510s | to make sure that you defending really |
| 1512s | well in your Towers getting powerups in |
| 1514s | all of them there's uh air strikes that |
| 1517s | you could call in if you're being sworn |
| 1518s | by Bots or you can generate healing for |
| 1520s | the entire team this this is awesome as |
| 1524s | I just shared like I had a lot of fun |
| 1526s | with the hero Mastery right um but like |
| 1528s | now you can play Hero Mastery plus I'm a |
| 1532s | big fan of like a tower defense mode and |
| 1536s | like you can do that with your friends |
| 1538s | yeah I there's leaderboards for this too |
| 1540s | so like it's there's going to be like a |
| 1543s | crazy race when this one comes out and |
| 1545s | it's really really hard too is a great |
| 1547s | thing yeah I I played it recently and my |
| 1550s | uh two my Towers just went down |
| 1552s | immediately um got to practice some more |
| 1555s | I had a really funny moment on Monday we |
| 1556s | were doing a stream on J 3 stream and |
| 1559s | someone in the chat asked um would we |
| 1561s | ever do a tower defense mode and I said |
| 1562s | that is very interesting interesting you |
| 1564s | ask |
| 1566s | that when Gauntlet ships uh we're going |
| 1568s | to have Heroes rotate seasonally and |
| 1570s | we're also going to have new custom |
| 1571s | rewards from challenges we really want |
| 1574s | each game to feel highly replayable and |
| 1576s | really unique so we're really excited |
| 1577s | for you all to jump into Gauntlet with |
| 1579s | your friends next |
| 1585s | year it's going to be super super fun |
| 1589s | Okay so we've heard um just a little bit |
| 1592s | of feedback on our competitive System |
| 1594s | since we did a rework last year um and |
| 1597s | we've we've listened to all of it it's |
| 1600s | it's important for us to to to hear what |
| 1603s | you all have to say so um we've been |
| 1605s | hard at work on a pretty big overhaul to |
| 1608s | it um and Gavin um is here to to talk us |
| 1612s | through it thanks Aaron um first I want |
| 1614s | to tell you about our approach to |
| 1616s | improving competitive play so um as most |
| 1619s | of you know we have some big problems to |
| 1620s | solve uh we're not transparent about how |
| 1623s | we construct our matches how your rank |
| 1625s | is determined or how our rewards |
| 1627s | function um most of you have all the |
| 1630s | golden weapons you'd ever want so giving |
| 1632s | you competitive points doesn't feel |
| 1633s | great um and since we launched OverWatch |
| 1636s | 2 we've had issues with the way players |
| 1638s | are distributed at our highest and |
| 1640s | lowest ranks but thankfully though these |
| 1643s | problems uh make our goals pretty |
| 1644s | straightforward we need to put more |
| 1646s | feedback in the game about every aspect |
| 1648s | of competitive that we can we need new |
| 1651s | rewards and imp improved Clarity around |
| 1654s | how to get them and we need to address |
| 1656s | the pain points things like how bad it |
| 1658s | feels to be on a law |
| 1660s | streak yeah so yeah it's |
| 1665s | yeah we've heard that a lot we've |
| 1668s | definitely heard that a lot it's doesn't |
| 1671s | feel good to have 14 losses in no no so |
| 1674s | in season 9 we're introducing a variety |
| 1677s | of changes to competitive play uh first |
| 1679s | we're removing the requirement to get |
| 1681s | five wins or 15 losses to get a |
| 1682s | competitive update um |
| 1686s | yeah |
| 1688s | um so you know law streaks would |
| 1691s | guarantee that you were going to rank |
| 1692s | down so what's the incentive to keep |
| 1694s | playing if you're on one um in its place |
| 1697s | we're adding a new page that makes your |
| 1699s | rank more transparent than |
| 1701s | ever let's go we call this the |
| 1705s | competitive overview with this new |
| 1707s | system your rank will update after every |
| 1709s | match win or loss the progress bar at |
| 1712s | the bottom shows exactly how much your |
| 1714s | rank increased after this win you can |
| 1716s | see that ranking up to Plat five is on |
| 1718s | the right and ranking down to gold two |
| 1720s | is on the left and when you hit that so |
| 1722s | when you win a game and it hits and it |
| 1725s | it hits plat five you immediately rank |
| 1727s | up to Plat five you're not waiting extra |
| 1730s | games to do something like that it just |
| 1732s | happens yeah um |
| 1736s | yeah |
| 1739s | so we call those green arrows below that |
| 1742s | progress bar rank modifiers they show |
| 1745s | why your rank Chang the way it did so |
| 1748s | since we want to be as precise as |
| 1749s | possible um so these are explained in |
| 1752s | detail by the information button on this |
| 1753s | page but an example here is streak uh |
| 1757s | this one means you ranked up even more |
| 1759s | because you're on a wi |
| 1760s | streak um we'll talk about that smaller |
| 1763s | progress bar in the top right in a |
| 1764s | moment but as you can see at the bottom |
| 1766s | we've also added a link that takes you |
| 1768s | straight to the final scoreboard yeah |
| 1770s | and there's um there's also a rank |
| 1772s | progress um it might be hard to read |
| 1774s | it's a little bit small on the screen |
| 1776s | but it's right above that bar right |
| 1778s | there and right now it says your rank |
| 1779s | progress It's 85% so you can see your |
| 1782s | exactly 85% of the way to the next rank |
| 1787s | um there's there's a lot of people um |
| 1789s | when we get feedback a lot of people |
| 1790s | were asking us to bring Sr back it was |
| 1793s | it was the system that we had on |
| 1794s | OverWatch one um and we did have have a |
| 1798s | few issues with Sr and um maybe like two |
| 1802s | of the biggest ones or one it it was a |
| 1804s | very arbitrary number to just say you |
| 1806s | were |
| 1808s | 2374 arbitrary 2374 everybody knows |
| 1811s | about 2374 and it does like we recognize |
| 1814s | it it does take on meaning after a while |
| 1816s | for people that are playing with it what |
| 1818s | we're hoping here is that you're gold |
| 1820s | one and you're 85 you're you're 85% of |
| 1823s | the way through gold one and that that |
| 1826s | actually has more more meaning for the |
| 1828s | vast majority of players um and also at |
| 1831s | the same time the the difference between |
| 1834s | a gold three and a gold four sometimes |
| 1837s | is just it's like less than four WIS |
| 1840s | away from each other and so that that |
| 1842s | wasn't necessarily conveyed very well |
| 1845s | through the SR system we we really like |
| 1848s | having these divisions in there and we |
| 1850s | really want people to know precisely |
| 1851s | where they are in that Division and so |
| 1854s | that's that's the reason we went this |
| 1855s | way |
| 1856s | obviously we listen to feedback you know |
| 1860s | like um the system can can evolve over |
| 1863s | time but this is this is where it's at |
| 1864s | right now yeah thanks |
| 1866s | yeah |
| 1870s | um yeah so uh when we launch season 9 |
| 1873s | we'll also be resetting ranks and |
| 1875s | bringing placements back to OverWatch 2 |
| 1878s | so this isn't a full MMR reset but it |
| 1882s | will give you a chance to make a big |
| 1883s | change to your rank uh because your |
| 1885s | placements game games will count for a |
| 1887s | lot more |
| 1888s | we want to do that every year along with |
| 1890s | some big changes to our systems and |
| 1892s | herob balance we want to give everyone a |
| 1895s | chance to earn a new rank because we'll |
| 1897s | also be redistributing players at all |
| 1900s | ranks those of you in bronze five silver |
| 1903s | 5 and silver 4 know how hard it can be |
| 1905s | to rank up in our current system and we |
| 1907s | can fix that with the redistribution |
| 1909s | those of you in Grandmaster one also |
| 1911s | know that we have more Grand Masters uh |
| 1914s | than we ever did in OverWatch one so as |
| 1917s | part of this redistribution we're also |
| 1919s | adding a new rank above grandmas called |
| 1923s | ultimate we want to update our |
| 1925s | competitive rewards every year |
| 1927s | too so in season 9 we'll be adding |
| 1930s | Emerald weapons um now this Art's not |
| 1933s | final uh but hopefully it gives you an |
| 1934s | idea of the types of rewards we want to |
| 1936s | add each new year I need those Emerald |
| 1939s | zenyata balls they look so cool me too |
| 1942s | God um so when we add Emerald weapons |
| 1944s | we'll convert all of our current |
| 1946s | competitive points into a leg currency |
| 1948s | that you can still spend on Golden |
| 1949s | Weapons if you want but to show these |
| 1952s | off you'll need to earn competitive |
| 1954s | points in the new season yeah and I |
| 1955s | think what's like really exciting about |
| 1957s | this I I I love the new redesign but |
| 1960s | there is this annual Cadence that we are |
| 1962s | trying to bring into the competitive |
| 1964s | side in OverWatch and I know when we |
| 1966s | first launched over Overwatch 2 the |
| 1968s | seasonal reset in placement was was very |
| 1972s | controversial um but this is going along |
| 1974s | with a whole set of of additional re |
| 1977s | Awards a redistribution of players |
| 1980s | across the ranks and we think that that |
| 1982s | initial set of placements now is is |
| 1985s | worth it to get everything else that |
| 1986s | we've got and it's also like a really |
| 1987s | exciting moment for players to look |
| 1990s | forward to um on an annual basis yeah |
| 1992s | every two months was probably way too |
| 1994s | often yeah so um going back to solving |
| 1997s | our problems um we know that the |
| 1999s | competitive challenges page was really |
| 2001s | confusing um and that was the only place |
| 2003s | to see how to earn our rewards so we're |
| 2006s | removing competitive challenges building |
| 2007s | a new page to show progress towards |
| 2010s | seasonal |
| 2012s | rewards we think this page is a much |
| 2014s | cleaner way to show rewards and the |
| 2016s | requirements to get them you may have |
| 2018s | also noticed that smaller progress bar |
| 2020s | in the top right again instead of our |
| 2022s | old end of season challenges that |
| 2024s | rewarded competitive points based on |
| 2025s | your final rank wins and losses both |
| 2028s | progress you toward big payouts of |
| 2030s | competitive points uh but just like our |
| 2032s | current weekly challenges wins Grant a |
| 2035s | lot of bonus |
| 2036s | progress and um another small |
| 2038s | Improvement we're going to make is |
| 2040s | showing the range of ranks in the match |
| 2042s | instead of just the average you can see |
| 2044s | that in the top |
| 2049s | left we're also planning a lot of bigger |
| 2052s | changes after season 9 uh like with |
| 2054s | grouping and competitive for example we |
| 2057s | want players to be able to play with |
| 2058s | their friends so we'll be removing most |
| 2060s | of our current grouping |
| 2062s | restrictions to do that though we have |
| 2064s | to rethink how we make competitive |
| 2066s | matches so if you're a diamond player |
| 2068s | and you want a group with your bronze |
| 2070s | friend we'll allow that but we'll |
| 2072s | classify your group as a wide group |
| 2074s | you'll only play against other wide |
| 2077s | groups and we'll try to find groups with |
| 2079s | a similar shape as yours um so if you're |
| 2082s | a diamond tank and your friend is a |
| 2084s | bronze support we'll try to find another |
| 2086s | Diamond tank and bronze support for the |
| 2088s | other team no promises um as you |
| 2091s | probably guessed the existence of wide |
| 2093s | groups also means we'll have narrow |
| 2095s | groups and this is great as as a solo |
| 2097s | player because you'll only ever play |
| 2100s | with narrow groups or other solos so we |
| 2103s | expect to see some big improvements to |
| 2104s | match quality for solo |
| 2110s | players I'm kind of excited because I |
| 2113s | used to I used to play OverWatch with my |
| 2115s | kids but they're teenagers and they just |
| 2117s | started getting better than me um and my |
| 2120s | my oldest ended up becoming Masters and |
| 2123s | we couldn't even group together anymore |
| 2124s | so now with this new system he'll have |
| 2126s | to find another excuse to not play with |
| 2129s | me yeah literal skill issue um another |
| 2133s | one is this gives us fewer Smurfs um |
| 2137s | since the only way to avoid avoid our |
| 2138s | current grouping restrictions right now |
| 2140s | to play with your friends is to create |
| 2141s | new accounts so you won't need to do |
| 2143s | that anymore |
| 2146s | cool okay so that's um that's the update |
| 2150s | on the the competitive system and um you |
| 2153s | can't play comp without Heroes um and I |
| 2157s | know we teased a few heroes in opening |
| 2159s | ceremony yesterday um and Daryl's team |
| 2162s | has created some amazing concept art to |
| 2165s | show for some of those Heroes take it |
| 2167s | away all right yeah thanks |
| 2171s | Aaron |
| 2175s | creating creating such a be visually |
| 2177s | unique and beautiful game like OverWatch |
| 2179s | 2 takes a lot of time and iteration in a |
| 2183s | malga deep dive panel yesterday the team |
| 2185s | went through some of these processes |
| 2187s | from coming up with a hero idea to |
| 2189s | drawing the concept art to the modeling |
| 2192s | then building their abilities then |
| 2194s | actually putting it all into the game we |
| 2196s | have a bunch of hero ideas and Concepts |
| 2199s | always brewing and during the opening |
| 2201s | ceremony Arantes two of these Heroes so |
| 2203s | let's get into them next year we'll be |
| 2206s | releasing three new Heroes a tank a |
| 2209s | support and a damage hero internally we |
| 2213s | are already testing all three of these |
| 2215s | heroes in their various states and more |
| 2217s | we're testing More Heroes more and more |
| 2220s | always more even though they're already |
| 2223s | undergoing testing we aren't ready to |
| 2224s | show all three of them just yet the hero |
| 2227s | coming in season 14 is far enough that |
| 2230s | we're going to keep that work to |
| 2231s | ourselves for now I have to stress that |
| 2235s | a lot can still change this far out |
| 2237s | including abilities and even their |
| 2238s | in-game models uh but here is what we |
| 2241s | can show you in season 12 the next |
| 2244s | support hero will be released currently |
| 2246s | known as the development team by the |
| 2248s | code name Space Ranger she will be our |
| 2251s | first hero in the for the Mars colony |
| 2254s | she's so cute I love her so much thanks |
| 2257s | Monica um we aren't quite ready to show |
| 2260s | her in action just yet but we do have |
| 2261s | some early concept art of what she |
| 2263s | currently looks like yeah I won't dive |
| 2265s | into her kit either but she's a highly |
| 2267s | Mobile support hero who has um quite a |
| 2270s | bit of vertical mobility to that end she |
| 2273s | has no lack of thrusters on her suits |
| 2276s | and all over her Bo boots as well and |
| 2278s | when we say that things are still |
| 2280s | changing Space Ranger is a perfect |
| 2282s | example her gun has already changed from |
| 2284s | what we're showing here um not only that |
| 2287s | but as production moves along we will in |
| 2290s | inevitably run into other elements on |
| 2291s | her design will have to iterate on when |
| 2294s | we fully reveal her for season 12 we can |
| 2297s | talk about all the changes we made to |
| 2299s | her from the early drawings that you |
| 2301s | guys see over here to the final model |
| 2303s | and the final Concepts so Space Ranger |
| 2306s | likes battling her foes from Air and |
| 2309s | Space how about a hero now that battles |
| 2312s | from under the ground in season 10 |
| 2314s | you'll get to play as our newest damage |
| 2316s | hero |
| 2317s | Venture they are our second and a half |
| 2320s | Canadian hero people often forget that |
| 2322s | Farah is half Canadian myself included |
| 2325s | I'm half Canadian |
| 2327s | too the fantasy we're going for with |
| 2330s | Venture is that of a swashbuckling |
| 2332s | archaeologist they have an unquenchable |
| 2334s | thirst for past treasures and hidden |
| 2336s | secrets |
| 2337s | and will go any which way to get to them |
| 2339s | and for Venture that way is often down |
| 2343s | Venture uses their powerful drill to dig |
| 2345s | through the map um to attack the |
| 2347s | opposing team because this drill was so |
| 2350s | um complex in its moving pieces right um |
| 2353s | and has a lot of cical geometry kjun |
| 2356s | Wang our senior concept artist who |
| 2357s | worked on Venture decided to employ 3D |
| 2360s | modeling early in the ideation phases |
| 2362s | even for the weapon and now I'll toss it |
| 2364s | over to Aon to show you guys some of how |
| 2366s | this works yeah okay so we have some |
| 2369s | early gameplay footage of uh Venture |
| 2371s | from a recent play test |
| 2374s | um here we go this is the loading screen |
| 2377s | we always do those kind of like silly |
| 2379s | little portraits one of our artist talki |
| 2381s | does those um before the the the they're |
| 2384s | ready burrowing underground is kind of |
| 2387s | amazing so they can like burst up out of |
| 2389s | the ground um do additional damage has |
| 2391s | vertical mobility to it they move around |
| 2394s | the map really well this this weapon is |
| 2396s | amazing amazing it shoots a projectile |
| 2398s | out a set distance and it explodes right |
| 2401s | there it's like it's really nice to be |
| 2402s | able to hit people even around corners |
| 2404s | with that thing when they when they duck |
| 2406s | out of the way um the Dig also it like |
| 2410s | the most important part of this is it it |
| 2411s | makes you invulnerable you know so it's |
| 2413s | like you can't be hit when you're |
| 2415s | underground it's a great great way to |
| 2416s | escape it's also a great way to get in |
| 2418s | close to players um you pop up like that |
| 2422s | um and then you have a dash as well and |
| 2424s | so the dash you can do it in the air you |
| 2427s | Dash underground if you want to when |
| 2429s | you're moving um it's all it's all |
| 2431s | around just like a really really fun kit |
| 2434s | to use we have this um this idea or this |
| 2438s | goal that we try to do with Heroes on |
| 2440s | OverWatch and um I think we're able to |
| 2442s | hit it on on DPS Heroes a little bit |
| 2444s | more than some of the other ones but as |
| 2446s | much as we can we just want it to be fun |
| 2447s | to hit the buttons you know like move |
| 2450s | around a space and just kind of have |
| 2452s | like some Joy there and Venture I think |
| 2454s | is is one of those Heroes um where they |
| 2457s | just um are fun to hit the buttons with |
| 2462s | hey Aon I you know to expand on that |
| 2464s | point uh you know when I was a play |
| 2465s | testing Venture i al literally you know |
| 2468s | just kept hitting you know the button |
| 2469s | you know to borrow in and out you know |
| 2472s | without any reason um but you know it |
| 2475s | was a feeling so Snappy uh you know just |
| 2477s | a big shout out to our animation and FX |
| 2479s | team to you know make this happen y so |
| 2482s | this was felt |
| 2485s | good now we um we didn't show the old |
| 2488s | we're we're holding that till season 10 |
| 2490s | until we till we fully reveal the hero |
| 2493s | um so there's more to |
| 2495s | come um so um these are just some of the |
| 2498s | things that the team is working on |
| 2500s | there's so much more um and uh next year |
| 2504s | you know we'll we'll like have a lot |
| 2506s | more things to talk to you about a lot |
| 2508s | more things to to reveal than we could |
| 2510s | have just fit here within 45 |
| 2513s | minutes I want to say that uh improving |
| 2516s | the overall play experience is really |
| 2518s | important to us and this uh goes beyond |
| 2521s | just game modes and new Heroes but also |
| 2525s | how everyone engages with the game's |
| 2527s | meta systems so one last thing I want to |
| 2530s | mention that I know people are really |
| 2532s | interested in is a set of changes and |
| 2535s | updates to the battle |
| 2538s | pass an initiative we're working on for |
| 2541s | next year is a redesign of the battle |
| 2543s | pass and we're deep in the process of |
| 2546s | working through through this which means |
| 2549s | we aren't ready yet to go through the |
| 2551s | details but I want to give you a small |
| 2553s | glimpse of what we're thinking one goal |
| 2557s | is to offer players more agency when it |
| 2560s | comes to the Mythic skin reward let me |
| 2563s | talk through a couple of specific |
| 2566s | cases players progressing through the |
| 2568s | premium battle pass today are able to |
| 2571s | unlock the latest Mythic skin each |
| 2573s | season but what if you don't play the |
| 2576s | hero with that Mythic skin it's going to |
| 2578s | make the battle pass a little less |
| 2580s | exciting to you in a different case you |
| 2584s | miss the chance to get Cyber demon Genji |
| 2587s | because you weren't around to play that |
| 2589s | first |
| 2590s | season what we want to do is to address |
| 2593s | both of these scenarios by giving you |
| 2596s | the option to earn any single Mythic |
| 2599s | skin we've ever released when you play |
| 2601s | through the premium battle |
| 2605s | pass |
| 2610s | but beyond this we're aiming to make |
| 2613s | play in OverWatch to more rewarding with |
| 2617s | a total set of changes to the battle |
| 2619s | pass uh we'll have more to share on that |
| 2622s | next |
| 2624s | year some of what we presented may |
| 2626s | change between now and release but we |
| 2629s | want it to be as open as possible on |
| 2632s | what we're developing planning or even |
| 2634s | thinking about and uh this doesn't even |
| 2638s | touch on the longer term franchise plan |
| 2641s | but that's really a discussion for |
| 2643s | another |
| 2643s | day finally I want to say that everyone |
| 2646s | here represents hundreds of employees on |
| 2649s | our team who care so much about this |
| 2652s | game and this work and we can't wait to |
| 2654s | release it all thank you Bliss |
| 2661s | con yeah I'll just I'll add on to that |
| 2664s | really quick this team is made of like |
| 2667s | so many talented amazing people and this |
| 2670s | is just a small glimpse of everything |
| 2672s | that we're working on um and even a |
| 2674s | glimpse that of things that we didn't |
| 2676s | talk about today like an image of a Peru |
| 2679s | map that's coming in the future that we |
| 2681s | also started this presentation off with |
| 2683s | and um there was um I'm sure people will |
| 2686s | talk about it online the next few days |
| 2688s | some other Easter eggs in this |
| 2690s | presentation that um kind of give hints |
| 2692s | at some of the things that are coming |
| 2694s | next year as well um so thank you |
| 2696s | everyone so much and we'll see you on |
| 2699s | the streets of |
| 2700s | [Applause] |
| 2713s | hanaoka |