Overwatch Dev Tracker

Grab Bag week!

There’s a lot the community is talking about—and we're excited for. This week, I'd love to briefly touch on a bunch of those topics. 

Flashpoint! 

We talked about Flashpoint during the livestream, and then some of the points around its design over Twitter, but nothing compares to a picture. It's good practice to draw paper maps before building a new level, especially when it's part of the process for designing a new game mode.

This image was one of the first ones drawn for Flashpoint. The final layout of Suravasa won't be exactly like this—for instance there won't be a river dividing the map in two—but it does a good job of showing how a Flashpoint map is designed. There are two spawn points for each team and five points arranged in an x pattern. We talked about the quasi-symmetrical nature of the map on the O...

Building an Epic Boss Fight in Defeat the Demon Lord!

Nothing tops a great adventure like an epic boss fight, and you’ll find just that in the new Defeat the Demon Lord game mode built by Workshop creator CactusPuppy. This new mode features a 1v4 asymmetrical fight, where four brave adventurers stand up to the Demon Lord Reinhardt as they work to stop his monstrous rampage throughout Overland.

We spent a little time with CactusPuppy to find out more about his approach to creating the game mode and what it took to bring it to life.

What were your first thoughts when the Overwatch team approached you about building the mode?

CA: It was a sense of shock at first, but I was happy for the opportunity because it was a wonderful chance to show everyone what cool things you can do with the Workshop.

Who came up with the mode, and how did you and the Overwatch team build on the concept?

CA: I ca...

After four years away, BlizzCon® is returning to Anaheim, California on November 3-4! We’re so excited to get everyone together again, celebrate our communities, and share what we’ve been working on.

This year, the goal is to make BlizzCon® feel more experiential than ever before. It will be a one-of-a-kind immersive experience, bringing attendees into the universes of Warcraft®, Diablo®, and Overwatch® with massive installations, art, and thematic spaces where friends can connect. Whether you’re kicking back in Azeroth, exploring the mysteries of a dark cathedral of Sanctuary, playing alongside the heroes of Overwatch®, or tuning in from home, we want you to feel you are entering universes alongside your friends as you celebrate and experience what we’re building next, and hear from developers all across Blizzard about their vision for our games, their craft, and more.

This is the first time we are building BlizzCon this way, an...