Overwatch 2’s new control map brings Penguins to Overwatch

Overwatch 2 Season 3 is set to begin Tuesday, February 7. It will bring many changes to matchmaking as well battle passes and in game currency. These changes sound amazing, and I won’t downplay them. I also don’t want to hide the potentially more important news: Antarctic Peninsula will be added to the game. This map features penguins. 

Antarctic Peninsula will become the game’s first (sometimes called king of-the-hill or KOTH), new control map since Busan was released September 2018. It’s actually only the second map that the game has added to its control collection since launch. It’ll contain three submaps as is the case with all maps of this kind: an icebreaker boat, a mining level, and the laboratory in which Overwatch hero Mei (and her co-workers) worked. It’s a expansion of the Ecopoint: Antarctica arcademap. 

Season 3 is set to be the most important season of Overwatch 2, as it closes its third month. The developers won’t release a new hero for Overwatch 2, but they are making adjustments to the matchmaking system to address player complaints about games that aren’t balanced and not particularly enjoyable. These changes were detailed in a developer blog and aim to make teams more evenly based on their role. Competitive updates, which are required to update your rank when you have it updated, will now be less stringent — from seven wins/20 losses down to five wins/15 defeats. These updates will make it possible to address some of the most pressing issues in the community.

But I still want to see the penguins. I cannot say that they are a better or more thrilling addition than any of the other changes. Matchmaking was really in need of some adjustments. However, it’s an enjoyable little detail that fits with the bright future Overwatch hopes to build. (We were curious if you could interact with penguins. You can. We asked if you could shoot at the penguins. You can. One person wondered if you could kill penguins. You can’t, thankfully.

The map’s penguins won’t be the only interesting detail. The developers spoke about updating their shaders to allow you to leave footprints and draw in snow during media interviews. Gavin Jurgens Fyhrie (Lead Narrative Designer) suggested that the new map could answer some long-standing questions, such as, “Why didn’t Overwatch save Mei and her team?” Other lore is also suggested.

Blizzard will likely release additional information about season 3 before it begins next week.