Blizzard is rolling back its decision to implement map pools in hero-shooter Overwatch 2. While 2 CP maps were permanently removed from rotation, Overwatch 2 otherwise brought over almost all the maps that were featured in the first Overwatch game. This meant Overwatch 2 had a large selection of maps right from the jump, but only some of those maps were actually available for fans to play thanks to the introduction of map pools.
Starting with Overwatch 2, Blizzard implemented map pools that restricted which maps could appear in any given season. The idea behind this was to make each season feel "fresh" by having different maps to play, but many members of the community didn't like this move, as it potentially meant losing access to their favorite maps. The upcoming Overwatch 2 Season 3 will still use map pools, but they are going away after that, according to director Aaron Keller.
As revealed by Aaron Keller, Overwatch 2 Season 4 will be doing away with map pools thanks to community feedback and the fact that it didn't really accomplish what set out to do. Keller left the door open for map pools to return in a future season of Overwatch 2, especially as the game continues adding more maps, but that it's possible they will be rotated in and out more frequently. For example, instead of Overwatch 2 maps changing every season, they would potentially be rotated in and out every week instead.
Keller also acknowledged that some maps tend to appear more frequently during any given Overwatch 2 play session, and as it turns out, that's somewhat by design. Keller explained that Overwatch 2's matchmaking system tries to get players into maps and match types that they haven't played recently. Since the Overwatch 2 Push mode only has a few maps at this time, the matchmaking makes maps like Colosseo, Esperanca, and New Queen Street pop up more frequently.
Blizzard is looking to solve this problem in a future Overwatch 2 season as well, but Keller stopped short of naming the exact season such a fix will be implemented. He did tease that a new Overwatch 2 game mode is on deck that will bring its own maps to the table, which will make it even more important for the development team to resolve this particular matchmaking quirk.
It does seem like Blizzard is listening to fan feedback and making important changes to Overwatch 2. While fans have to wait until Season 4 for map pools to be gone, Overwatch 2 Season 3 will have plenty of positive changes of its own.
Overwatch 2 is out now in early access for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Aaron Keller - Blizzard
