Next Overwatch hero being tested and future plans outlined

Blizzard’s Jef Kaplan has removed himself from the holiday fireplace and returns with the first Overwatch update of 2018.

Blizzard has plenty planned for this year including news that they are currently testing out the next hero internally, the 27th hero that is “needed” according to Jeff. Overwatch League skins are coming soon apparently, and the Overwatch League will be properly launched, and Blizzard World is coming “soon”.

Beyond hero 27, there will be more heroes and new maps will also be coming this year which is no huge surprise. Regarding Competitive Play, they will continue to tweak it with the removal of the performance-based skill metric for players Diabm=ond and above. They will also continue make changes in the months ahead.

More story will be coming which has nothing to do with the gameplay but fans enjoy the animated shorts and comics. The Chinese New Year will be celebrated with new content for the Year of the Dog and the Uprising event will return but they want to “evolve it”. New standard loot box content will be coming later this month.

In other words, it’s business as usual for Overwatch in 2018.