In a recent Developer’s Update, Jeff Kaplan revealed an amazing surprise – Deathmatch is finally making its way to Overwatch. Despite previously stating that it would never be a game mode due to the objective based gameplay that Overwatch revolves around, it is finally coming.
Jeff stated that since the arrival of the Arcade, Blizzard has been able to implement unique and fun game modes that would not fit into the design of Quickplay or Competitive. You may have already guessed that Deathmatch will be exclusive to Arcade, which has seen great success since its release a year ago.
Anyone who has played an FPS game ever would be familiar with the Deathmatch mode – simply score more kills than the enemy team to win. Well, Overwatch will be introducing two types of Deathmatch. The first known as, well, Deathmatch, is a free for all mode where eight players duke it out to figure out who is the top dog (if the dog had incredibly powerful and high tech weaponry). It is every man/woman/ape for themselves, so you better bring your A-game. First Hero to 20 kills takes the win. The bonus good news is that if you are in the top half of the game (top 4 out of 8) you will gain a win credit towards your Arcade Loot Boxes.
There will also be Team Deathmatch which is basically the same as Deathmatch, but it is 6v6. You will fight for a cumulative team total of 30 kills. Mercy will shape the way Team Deathmatch is played as her Resurrection Ultimate can, in fact, remove kill credits from the enemy team. Expect a lot more clutch games where Mercy is involved.
For Team Deathmatch, the Overwatch team have tweaked and altered a selection of the current maps for use in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, so that they would be more optimal for fast paced non-objective combat.
There will also be a brand new map that is home (or at least was) to everyone’s favourite blue skinned assassin, Widowmaker. Chateau Guillard is a custom map designed with Deathmatch in mind, equipped with jump pads, tight corridors and open areas. Much like Horizon Lunar Colony held hints about Winston so too does this French Chateau hold secrets about Widowmaker. Fun fact, there is an actual medieval castle at Normandy, France known as Chateau Gaillard, which was put under siege after the death of Richard the Lionheart.
Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Chateau Guillard are available for testing in the PTS for those who play on PC. Definitely going to be an exciting new mode.