Overwatch has dropped Horizon Lunar Colony and Paris from its Quick Play map pool. The latest Overwatch patch notes announce this massive change with a single, unassuming line.
Under the Maps subheading, the notes read:
Horizon Lunar Colony and Paris have been removed from Quick Play and related modes.
I’m sure there are a few of you cheering this decision right now. Though Horizon has been in the rotation for some time, Paris is a relatively new map. They’re also, notably, Assault (or 2CP) maps. 2CP is a game mode that Blizzard has said it wants to dump in Overwatch 2. The mode has never been popular with players, who found breaking through two chokepoints akin to slamming your head against a brick wall. The patch notes do not provide a rationale for dropping these maps. Could they be reworked? Folded into other modes? For now, Blizzard remains quiet.
Three 2CP maps, Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, and Volskaya Industries, remain in the Quick Play rotation. Horizon and Paris will still appear in the current Overwatch Competitive season.
The removal of these maps constitutes one of the biggest changes to Overwatch since development on the sequel was ramped up. With a closed beta period now looming on the, er, horizon, this may just be table setting on Blizzard’s part. Overwatch 2 is known to use the same maps and infrastructure as the original. Removing maps from the pool may be a matter of necessity.
My personal crusade to have Busan deleted from the game continues unabated. Sure, it’s an entirely different map type but I’m a support main and I hate it. Let me have my petty, irrational grudges.
Overwatch 2 still has no release date. The game has been in development for several years and hopes to revitalise the once-dominant multiplayer game. Development faltered due to staff changes brought about by Activision Blizzard’s terrible, awful, no good, very bad year in 2021, but appears to be back on the road to release.
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