Map voting finally arrives inOverwatch 2’sseason 17, landing in both Quick Play and Competitive at launch.
The newest season of the hero shooter does not add a new hero this time around, but there are several other noteworthy additions alongside the battle pass and other standard fare that players have come to expect from the live-service title since it launched a few years back, such as several changes and additions to Stadium (Sigma, Junkrat, and Zenyatta join the mode’s roster) and Core modes.
The ability to choose which map to play has been long-requested, and it’s finally here, giving the lobby a random selection of three maps to choose from. Every vote adds a one-in-10 chance to the map’s odds, and the chosen map is selected with a “roulette-style roll.” Votes are kept secret, too, so don’t feel stressed.
For the first time ever, the new season will launch with multiple Mythics, with D.Va’s Horang skin and Reaper’s Steel Death weapon skin. Both new additions evolve with Mythic Prisms and allow for customization to suit your style.
D.Va’s Horang comes with multiple colorways and designs, as can be seen above, while Reaper’s shotguns come equipped with scythe-like blades and glowing effects, kill FX, and a reactive nature.
As far as gameplay goes, the map pool is changing in both Stadium and baseOW2. Esperança and Samoa will join the ranks in Stadium to go along with a rank reset, while the Core experience is refreshed with Aatlis, a new Flashpoint map based in Morocco.
Season 17’s battle pass is varied, with 8-Bit skin designs for Reinhardt, Genji, and Sombra, along with more new skins for Cassidy, Junkrat, Widowmaker, and Sigma, along with loot boxes, credits, and 80 Mythic Prisms to add to your ever-growing collections.
Blizzard also revealed two events coming to the game, including Powered Up, which begins at the start of the season, offering free unlockable rewards until June 30. Hacks & Hijinx, the second event, runs from July 15 to 28 and features a six-vs-six mode where modifiers rotate every round.
The final “event” will be towards the end of the season when the game’s newest hero coming in season 18, Wuyang, gets a playtest trial.OW2’sseason 17, Powered Up, begins next week on June 24.
