BlizzCon brings an in-game Overwatch World Cup Viewer, but no new maps

Here's what to expect from Overwatch at BlizzCon this year

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Blizzard’s spent the past week detailing things you shouldn’t expect at BlizzCon 2018, and now that includes new Overwatch maps. The latest developer update confirms there won’t be any map announcements at the show. But there is plenty on the horizon. In the immediate future, that means an in-game Overwatch World Cup Viewer, as well as we’ll see buffs for heroes including Roadhogg and Mercy.

“In the past we’ve announced Oasis and we’ve announced Blizzard World,” Jeff Kaplan says. “Both were announced at BlizzCon. To be honest, we felt like they got a little bit lost in the shuffle, both during the timing of announcing at BlizzCon and also the time at which we released them. They didn’t have as big of an impact as we really wanted. We feel like a new map is something very, very special.”

New map content is in the works, and Kaplan says other Overwatch announcements will be at the show. But new stages now join a Diablo 4 announcement among the things you shouldn’t expect to see during BlizzCon.

But BlizzCon will bring us the Overwatch World Cup, and with it the Overwatch World Cup Viewer. This tool will hit beta in time for the event, and will allow you to watch OWWC from any camera or viewpoint in real-time – whether first-person or third-person, or from a free-floating view. You’ll also have these tools in replays, as well as mastery over time itself, which is a fancy way of saying you’ll have speed controls.

Lastly, buffs are coming for Reaper, Roadhogg, Mercy, and Symmetra. You can find full details on all of them in the latest PTR notes, but most notable changes are to Mercy’s Valkyrie. The ability cost has been reduced by 15%, and healing has increased from 50 to 60. Roadhogg’s also getting a swath of new buffs, rebalancing his Chain Hook, Scrap Gun, and Whole Hog abilities.