Overwatch 2 has officially revealed the Antarctic Peninsula map that's coming to the game as part of Season 3. Overwatch 2 Season 3 is expected to start on Tuesday, February 7, but it will stand out from the previous two seasons in one important way. Whereas Overwatch 2 Season 1 and Season 2 both introduced new heroes, Overwatch 2 Season 3's big headlining addition will be a new map instead.
Overwatch 2 Season 1 added Junker Queen, Kiriko, and Sojourn to the mix, whereas Season 2 added new Tank hero Ramattra. From here on out, Blizzard plans on establishing a pattern with its Overwatch 2 seasons. Odd-numbered seasons are expected to add new maps and other content to the game, whereas new heroes will be added to the mix with even-numbered seasons. The new map coming in Overwatch 2 Season 3 is Antarctic Peninsula, the first new Control map since the sequel launched in early access last year.
Like other Control maps in Overwatch, the Antarctic Peninsula is split up into distinct areas: an icebreaker ship, an underground mining area, and laboratories. Each area will have a control point that players must hold if they hope to score a point for their team. Lore-wise, the Antarctic Peninsula has a direct connection to Damage hero Mei, and according to Blizzard, the icebreaker ship is actually what the Overwatch team used to try to save Mei back when she and her team were stranded and cryogenically frozen.
The Mei animated short is often hailed as one of the better animations that the franchise has seen, packing significant emotional punch and going a long way in giving Mei's character more depth. Players will have to explore the Antarctic Peninsula for themselves to see if they can find any more lore tidbits. Blizzard wouldn't reveal if the Antarctic Peninsula will be involved in the Overwatch 2 PvE campaign mode, which is expected to be especially lore-heavy, but more information on that front should come to light later this year.
Overwatch 2 enthusiasts may be interested to learn that the Antarctic Peninsula map will also have penguins that can be interacted with. Overwatch 2 players are able to shoot at the penguins if they want, but they can't actually hit them. The developers compared the penguins' ability to dodge bullets to The Matrix. While Overwatch 2 players are able to shoot at the penguins all they'd like, they are unable to pet them, unfortunately.
Overwatch 2 is out now in early access for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
