BREAKING: Blizzard Announces Overwatch Worskshop

Blizzard has announced Overwatch’s newest feature, one that gives the player base the power to shape their experience more than ever. The Overwatch Workshop, revealed during Tuesday’s Developer Update, gives players the ability to customize game modes almost infinitely.

What is it?

In the words of Overwatch lead designer Jeff Kaplan, the Workshop is a “scripting mode” that allows players to access some of the tools used by Overwatch developers. To give an idea of what to expect, Blizzard released a game mode called Molten Floor alongside several others created in the Workshop. In it, players take damage anytime they touch the floor, encouraging all kinds of aerial shenanigans.

Beyond the ability to create game modes, the new feature will let enterprising gamers tweak heroes as well. If someone wants to see how the game changes with a certain buff or nerf, they have the power to test it. “You could even prototype your own Overwatch hero,” said Kaplan. The sky is the limit for anyone creative enough to make something great.

How does it work?

Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

The Workshop is a feature for the dedicated. The system of Rules, Events, Conditions and Actions will be easier to understand for anyone with a background in programming. Because they want this to be accessible to all, Blizzard has included a basic tutorial in the announcement, along with a debugger to help everyone along. A dedicated Workshop forum is coming to the Blizzard website, so players will have plenty of tools to learn.

When is it coming?

The Workshop is live on Overwatch’s Public Test Region (PTR). Based on past release schedules, players can expect to see it in the general game in about two weeks. Hopefully, within a month, the Workshop will be making its influence felt – with new game modes and balance ideas. 

What does it mean?

With this feature, Blizzard has decided to hand the keys to the players to an extent. Amidst constant complaints about the state of Competitive play and hero balance, the dev team is giving the player base a chance to try their hand.

Players can now change up virtually any aspect of how Overwatch works, from ability cooldowns, to how heroes deal or take damage, to role limits. Any change someone wants to see in the game, they can now make reality. The Workshop represents an unprecedented chance for Overwatch fans to dictate how the game evolves and what they want it to be.

Featured image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.

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