Overwatch 2's New Flashpoint Game Mode May Re-Use Old Maps

Overwatch 2's Flashpoint game mode could re-use scrapped 2CP maps

By Spencer Perry

When Overwatch 2 premiered it may have come with new heroes and new maps, but it also saw the game lose several maps entirely as one gamemode was completely removed. Assault, or Two Capture Point, as it was called, saw Overwatch 2 teams fighting over control of one point and then a second in a match, alternating between Offense and Defense. This mode had been criticized by some parts of the player base, which ultimately lead to its removal, but with that came maps players liked which were no longer part of the regular rotation. With its new mode, Flashpoint, Overwatch 2 is delivering some of its biggest maps ever, and the team has considered reviving its lost maps for this new mode.

Speaking in a round table interview for Overwatch 2: Invasion, some members of the dev team at Blizzard were asked if we might see the 2CP maps return. "There are some fan favorites from previous 2CP maps that we're always open to reusing if it calls for," Lead Level Designer Ryan Smith revealed. "Not just to do it but if it makes sense. For the theme for for the game to kind of do that. Then yes, we're we talked about that stuff. 

Overwatch 2 Game Director Aaron Keller opened up about it as well, noting that 2CP was largely removed from the rotation in the game because it contributed to "stomps" in the game, and as a result became very unpopular. Keller added, "If you think about 2CP, the attacking team could win in two team fights and it could be over or the defending team could make it steady. Like if they if they were doing well. The attacking team would make absolutely zero progress in the match and it was such a stark contrast between those two. We really weren't able to solve it without totally redoing those maps. And so we had to move away from the game mode because we just didn't feel like internally for all of our different ranks of players that it was actually serving them the way that we think the rest of the game modes do."

Overwatch 2's new Flashpoint wasn't always an Assault map

Among the new maps that will be released when Flashpoint debuts during Overwatch 2: Invasion is Suravasa. This map, set in India and featuring plenty of connections to fan-favorite characters, was originally planned to be an assault map like Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, and Volskaya Industries. The fact that this change was made is what has many Overwatch 2 players wondering if the same could happen with their old favorites. Turns out, it's not that easy.

"The layout itself wasn't converted into a flashpoint map," Ryan Smith noted. "Some things might have influenced, you know, some of the layout like some of the themes around the points and kind of how we leverage the environment into the layout. But it's a brand new layout and what the 2CP version was, the only thing that was really the same was kind of the theme of India and the art kit."

Principal Environment Artist Daniel McGowan adds that the conversion wasn't a simply 1:1 switch, but rather a complete start from scratch. Thanks to this the art department had plenty of visuals that were ready and were incorporated into Survasa. 

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He adds, "We were able to repurpose a lot of those things for the map, in addition to like augmenting and creating a whole bunch of new stuff as well. There's like this beautiful Omnic temple. There's these gardens and a palace...So because we already had those art kits, and we were able to expand upon them. It came out even better than the first 2CP map."

Overwatch 2: Invasion launches today, August 10th, featuring not only the new game mode Flashpoint but also the new hero Illari, Overwatch 2 story missions, Hero Mastery, and more..    

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