The hybrid map based on New York City has been temporarily removed from Overwatch 2's map pool due to undisclosed issues. Overwatch 2 has just launched its sixth season which brings a new permanent game mode in Flashpoint, long awaited PvE missions, Hero Mastery missions, and the new Peruvian support hero named Illari.

Midtown was first introduced as part of Overwatch 2's October 2022 launch. Alongside three new heroes in Sojourn, Junker Queen, and Kiriko, and several other new maps like the sniper-friendly Circuit Royale and the tighter Paraiso, Midtown quickly became one of the highlights due to it taking place in New York City. As a hybrid map, Midtown first starts out with a capture point at an NYC firehouse. If captured by the attacking team, the map transitions into a payload path, with the attacking team needing to escort the firetruck payload through the city streets and into Grand Central Terminal in order to win.

RELATED: Overwatch 2 Invasion Update Is End of Early Access Phase

Now, with Season 6 of Overwatch 2 having just started, Midtown is temporarily being removed from the map rotation. As part of a "Known Issues" post on the official Overwatch 2 forum, a community manager informed fans that the Manhattan-based map will be disabled as the team investigates a problem. On Twitter, Overwatch Cavalry added that there isn't a timeframe for when fans can expect the map to become available once again.

While the reason for Midtown's temporary removal is unknown, it could perhaps be attributed to Overwatch 2's newest hero Illari. Even though Illari isn't an air-based hero such as Pharah, Mercy, or Echo, she does still have some mobility in her Outburst ability and her Captive Sun ultimate, which could potentially cause map issues. Outburst lets Illari leap in the direction she's moving, and Captive Sun launches her into the air to get a better angle for her to fire her massive sun-like projectile. While unconfirmed, it's possible that a combination of these two moves, with perhaps help from Lucio's speed boost, Lifeweaver's Petal Platform, or even a leap-frogging Mercy, may allow players to reach unfair and unintended high ground on Midtown's map, but this is merely speculation.

While it's disappointing to see a map like Midtown become temporarily disabled, in the face of all the exciting new permanent modes being brought to the table as part of Invasion alongside the latest support hero Illari, it's likely not that huge of a blow for many fans. There have been some fans wanting the return of Assault maps to the rotation, as they were removed for the launch of Overwatch 2. However, with this new capture-based Flashpoint mode introduced in Season 6, this seems less and less likely. Fans of Overwatch 2's Midtown map may have to wait a while before learning when the NYC-based map will make its return.

Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

MORE: Are The Overwatch 2 PvE Missions Worth $15?

Source: Blizzard