Overwatch’s latest event, celebrating one year since release, is now live.
The event runs from May 23 (24 in Australia) through to June 12 (13 down under) and introduces lots of new content, items, emotes and skins. As part of the event, Blizzard has introduced three new Arena maps; Castillo, Necropolis and Black Forest.
Three New Arena Maps
These new maps are playable only in Arcade mode and custom matches, but will remain permanently. Castillo is set above Dorado and features Sombra’s hacker hide-out. Black Forest will be familiar to anyone who’s seen Bastion’s heartbreaking short and Necropolis is a night-time map set outside the Temple of Anubis.
In addition to these maps, some new Arcade modes have been added and older ones tweaked. In 3v3 Elimination, player outlines won’t be shown after time has passed. Instead, capture points will spawn on the map. The winner will be the team who can capture the points or eliminate the other team.
3v3 Lockout is a variation on the mode and prevents players from selecting the same character twice in a row. It’ll be interesting to see the team compositions change-up in response to the new rule.
1v1 is also being shaken up with new mode Limited Duel. Instead of randomly being assigned a hero, both players can select one of three heroes. Both players have the same options, but it means that both players won’t necessarily be the same one.
Awesome New Skins
As with any in-game event, Blizzard has included some epic new skins for players to collect. There’s Sentai Genji, Bedouin Pharah, Jazzy Lucio, Beekeeper Mei, Cyborg Soldier 76, Oasis Symmetra, Cruiser D.Va, Dune Buggy Bastion, Graffiti Tracer and Cyberian Zarya.
Coinciding with today’s event is the release of Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition. Blizzard has announced that the special edition is being released for a special introductory price of $59.95 AUD.
The special edition includes 10 standard Loot Boxes, Origins Skins, Mercy’s Wings for use in Diablo III, Overwatch hero portraits for StarCraft II, Tracer Hero for Heroes of the Storm and a baby Winston pet for World of Warcraft.
Blizzard has also slashed the price of vanilla Overwatch on PC to $44.95 AUD and giving PC players the chance to upgrade from vanilla to Game of the Year for $10 AUD instead of $20.
The special prices will only be available until June 6.
Overwatch is available for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
