‘Overwatch’ dev talks story creation, hints at competitive matches coming in update

While players are still pretty much enjoying the run-through of “Overwatch,” the developer has already teased an upcoming feature for the game. Engadget reported that competitive mode will be part of the game come June.

Confirmed by Lead Game Designer Jeff Kaplan in a Facebook Q&A session, the ranked play feature is said to be included in a special content update coming in no later than late June.

A fan had asked when the competitive mode will debut in the game, to which Kaplan teased that this mode is the focus of the “Overwatch” team. Since the beta run, a lot has already changed in the mode, since the team is applying feedback from the closed beta.

“Our first big content update for ‘Overwatch’ will be competitive mode,” said Kaplan. There are no promises made yet on when the competitive mode will debut in the actual game, though Kaplan did give a very rough estimate of until the end of June.

Among the changes that will be applied in competitive is the length of the season. According to Kaplan, the players felt that the season was too short, so the team has decided to extend it to around three months. Some formats are also being reevaluating in terms of frequency of when it will be rolled out.

In another interview, this time with VG 247, Senior Game Designer Michael Chu hinted that the story creation may not be as set in stone as other projects done by the studio.

“What’s interesting is, we might not have things as figured out as we have on other projects where we delve in quickly,” said Chu to VG 247. “We kind of want to leave ourselves space to develop these ideas as we go through.”

Chu emphasised that “Overwatch” is not restricted by a single-story campaign. Hence, the story has been predominantly hinted upon in animated shorts and comics. Still, the developer confirmed that they have their respective guides to ensure that the development of the story remains in the planned direction.