Overwatch Hits 40 Million Players, Reveals New Map Details

A new developer update for Overwatch confirmed that the game has now amassed 40 million players while also revealing some details about the new map.

Overwatch's Jeff Kaplan was featured in the video and started by discussing the upcoming anniversary event. The event that's starting on May 22 marks the two-year anniversary of Overwatch and will introduce new skins, a map, and much more. Kaplan took that moment to drop the detail about the lofty new player count that includes more than 40 million active players.

"It is super exciting for us, we now have over 40 million players, which is amazing," Kaplan said. "And this is a great opportunity for us, the Overwatch team, to celebrate you all and the amazing things you've done for the game, all the awesome content you've created for the game. So, we have a lot of special stuff planned for this event."

Kaplan then moved on to discussing the new Overwatch map that Deathmatch players will get, a free-for-all map called Petra. Up until now, the only details known about the map were that it would be a Deathmatch option and would be called Petra, but Kaplan shared a bit more info on the map while hinting at some sort of massive healthpack in the area's center among other gameplay features.

"Petra is beautiful. There are some really fun gameplay elements to it as well," Kaplan continued. "For example, there is a mega-healthpack in the very center of the map in an area that becomes increasingly dangerous as the match goes on. We think you'll find that very fun."

Kaplan also added that the map will be a fine fit for different types of heroes as well be them long-range ones or those that prefer to be up close in the fights.

"There's parts of the map that are great for open, long-range heroes, there's parts of the map that are great for short-ranged heroes. There's a lot of diversity, and we think you'll find it super, super fun."

Covering a new Competitive Deathmatch season and other features, Kaplan also previewed a new loot box that'll be available during the anniversary event. This Anniversary Loot Box will always contain an anniversary item and also has a chance to contain another item from any of Overwatch's past seasonal events. With these loot boxes, players can get items that were left behind in the Summer Games and other Overwatch events.

Overwatch's anniversary event begins on May 22 and ends on June 12.