The future of Overwatch 2 has been rather uncertain for quite some time now due to various issues from past seasons. However, fans are hopeful things are taking a turn for the better after receiving news about Overwatch 2's Invasion game mode during the June 21 live stream. While season five just recently launched, it seems players are already looking forward to the sixth season.
It's not surprising that the community is waiting for August 10 with anticipation seeing as this is set to be one of the most important seasons of Overwatch 2 yet. Not only will there be a new support hero, but there will also be a player-level system, two new maps, and even a new game mode. The new mode, called Flashpoint, will be the fifth core game mode to be added to the FPS.
Blizzard Needs to Ensure Variety with Flashpoint
Some are calling the new Overwatch 2 Flashpoint mode a replacement for 2CP, officially known as Assault. According to the developers, "teams will fight for control of key positions across the map called 'flashpoints', aiming to capture three of them before their opponents do." This concept sounds very similar to 2CP, though rather than there being an attacking and defending team, it appears that both teams are aiming to seize points at the same time.
Flashpoint doesn't seem like an entirely new concept since other games have similar modes. For example, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Gundam Evolution have Domination, a mode where players must assert control over various points around the map. The two newly revealed maps have been confirmed to be Suravasa and New Junk City, which were featured during the recent live stream.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest issues that fans of Overwatch 2 have faced is repetition in the game, in more ways than one. Blizzard did away with Overwatch 2 map pools by season four because people were so frustrated with playing the same ones over and over. While it is exciting that season six will be launching with two additional maps, this could end up being a double-edged sword for Blizzard if it's not careful.
The last core game mode to come to the franchise was the controversial Push mode which only has three maps so far. This list includes Colosseo, Esperanca, and New Queen Street. To date, Blizzard has not come out with another Push map, which could end up being a recurring issue for other game modes. Flashpoint having two maps in season six is a great start to what should be Overwatch 2's most content-packed season so far. The new locales are already quite impressive on their own. Additionally, they're going to be the biggest maps in the game based on comments from environmental artist Daniel McGowan.
Nevertheless, if Blizzard continues to add new game modes without considering the number of maps for established modes like Push, it could be sentencing older modes to an early death. Although, while Push was praised for being fast-paced in Overwatch 2, some of the player base would probably be fine with the mode not receiving any more maps. Fewer maps could mean fewer chances of playing Push, after all.
Fingers are crossed that Blizzard will consider building the map count for Flashpoint and Push before it moves on to creating other game modes. With new features such as Hero Mastery coming to Overwatch 2 sometime in season six, the game mode may not be at the forefront of Blizzard's mind. Hopefully players will see new maps for both by 2024.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
