Overwatch Workshop is announced and made available on the PTR

Blizzard Entertainment has announced a new feature coming to Overwatch called Workshop. It’s a special tool within the game’s browser that allows players to create their own game modes and prototype heroes, Jeff Kaplan said in a developer update released today.

Kaplan said that this is an adapted version of a scripting system that the Overwatch developers use to create the game. “This will speak to, most immediately, people with some experience with other scripting engines or people with programming backgrounds,” Kaplan said. He said that Overwatch Workshop is still made to be as accessible as possible to all players.

Blizzard will add template game modes to the Workshop for players to investigate and understand how they work, Kaplan said. The tool will also come with a Workshop Inspector that will help creators find what the issues are with the code they’re creating for their mode or hero.

Kaplan clarified that Workshop isn’t a map editor, though. “It mainly allows you to control the game logic behind game modes and what’s happening to heroes,” he said.

The Overwatch Workshop is already available for testing on the game’s PTR servers on both consoles and PC, and players are able to share their creations with others and carry them over to the live server once Workshop is released there. Blizzard intends to put live a special forum for discussion about Workshop in the game’s official website.