The Overwatch 2 team informed fans in a June 13 tweet about changes coming to popular Escort map Watchpoint: Gibraltar. These map changes, ranging from new spawn area exits to added cover on high ground, aim to make the map less frustrating for fans to play both casually and competitively. But those changes aren’t the only ones headed fans’ way. In the same thread, lead level designer Ryan Smith implied more maps will get the same treatment.
“We’ll be doing map updates on a more regular basis,” the tweet reads. “Our goal is to fix historical pain points that players have had in the layouts.”
Map changes in the Overwatch franchise have historically been all-or-nothing; either a map gets reworked or it doesn’t get many changes, if any. That led to some of the more frustrating maps, like Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony, being removed from the game entirely. Seeing some minor to medium-size changes like the ones headed to Watchpoint: Gibraltar is a nice change of pace for fans.
The question is, how will it affect other maps? Classic maps for game modes like Control or Escort haven’t received many changes. Ilios, for example, is exactly the same as it was at launch, asides from the collective changes all maps got with the transition from Overwatch to Overwatch 2.
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This renovation of a classic map like Gibraltar is a nice addition, considering it was recognized as a map that was tough to attack on all three points. Most of that had to do with the chokes on the second part and the close spawn on the third, but the development team has seemingly recognized that issue and changed the map to suit it.
The before and after photos of the map show exactly what’s different, and how they’re trying to make significant changes to Gibraltar. The only question is what changes they might bring to other maps, both old and new. Maps like Havana and Oasis have frustrating elements to them too, with chokes that can easily be labelled as “pain points.” In the end, we’ll only know when these changes are coming from the dev team’s announcements.
