Overwatch players are getting a new map today, but they’ll have to wait one week to try it out in the game’s competitive ladder.
Horizon Lunar Colony will take Overwatch players to the moon, where Overwatch hero Winston and the rest of his gorilla colony grew up. The map will enter Overwatch’s Competitive Play this week, according to Blizzard.
Blizzard’s last new hero, Orisa, was disabled in Competitive Play for her first week in the live game. The idea is just to allow players to get used to a new hero before throwing it into games that impact player ranking—and therefore, matter a little bit more than Quick Play or Arcade games.
Hidden within Horizon Lunar Colony’s nooks and crannies are little bits of lore, Blizzard said last week. Players will be able to explore Winston’s dormitory, the moon’s telescope room, as well as a few low gravity areas. Not only is the map meant to piece together the story of what happened with the gorilla uprising on the moon, it will also introduce new gameplay elements as players experience with the low gravity areas.
Horizon Lunar Colony is part of a larger Overwatch patch that includes a variety of balance changes. The patch is expected to go live later today.
UPDATE 6/20 12:50pm: Blizzard corrected its forum post, noting that the new map will be available for use in competitive Overwatch this week. The article has been edited to reflect the change.
