PAX East 2015: New Overwatch map ‘Watchpoint: Gibraltar’ revealed

As you’re probably well aware, Blizzard held its PAX East panel today, and as expected it was filled with tons of exciting announcements and reveals. One reveal was for the developer’s new 6v6 PvP first-person shooter, Overwatch. It was a new map that goes by the name Watchpoint: Gibraltar.

As you well know by now, Blizzard games are full of lore. Overwatch is no different, and Watchpoint: Gibraltar is one of the maps that helps bring the history of this new universe into the game.

“Even though it’s a competitive 6v6 shooter we want there to be a lot of story into this universe,” Blizzard said. “We’re having fun slowly revealing information with what’s going on in this Overwatch universe and build it someday so its lore can stand side by side with Warcraft and Starcraft.”

***Blizzard reveals new Overwatch character, Zarya… the game's first female tank***

As for the lore behind this new map, Watchpoint: Gibraltar acts as the location in which Winston – a former Overwatch member looking to reform the group – must reestablish network communication. To do so, players must protect this drone as it heads towards the rocket to reestablish connection. On the flip end, the other team must defend the rocket and attempt to stop the drone from reaching it. In the demo, once the round was over, the two teams switched sides and roles.

***New futuristic gunslinger character, McCree, revealed***

Aside from the premise of the map providing background context, there’s also lore to be found within the map. For example, the attacker’s spawn point is in Winston’s laboratory, which, if you look around at the various elements like the white boards, you can find a bit of context and background of Overwatch.

In addition to revealing a new map, Blizzard also showed off two new characters, which we’ll have write-ups about soon. We’ll also have a full preview of our gameplay experience on Watchpoint: Gibraltar later today.

Also announced today was the time frame for the Overwatch Beta, which was announced to happen in Fall 2015.