Overwatch Workshop

April 26, 2019 4:51 AM

Blizzard recently announced a new feature in Overwatch - the Workshop. This allows anyone on PC or console (currently only on the Public Test Region) to create new game modes using the existing maps and art, which can be debugged and then shared using a short code.

Overwatch players have been quick to create a whole bunch of fun stuff using the Workshop:

• Hamster-based speedrunning (D9RND)
• Get on the (magnetic) point (XS7AX)
• Hero switcheroo based on who you kill (6PC67)
• Top-down view (TJFS5)
• Mobile sentry Bastions! (8E1CK)

posted by Stark (13 comments total)

Via Reddit: Using the Workshop, I can finally get my team to group up.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 4:53 AM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

I saw a crazy mystery hero style game mode where everyone starts the match as DVA, but then becomes a completely different hero when de-meched.
posted by Groundhog Week at 5:16 AM on April 26, 2019 [5 favorites]

Once I saw this being announced, I knew that the community would go wild with it and I'm happy to see that I wasn't wrong.
posted by Fizz at 5:22 AM on April 26, 2019

Nice, reminds of Halo's Forge mode but with weird game logic instead of map-building.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:30 AM on April 26, 2019

I can't wait to have time to work on this. I've always wanted to create a Predator Boss game mode centered around a buffed Genji with Sombra's invisibility.
posted by Groundhog Week at 5:34 AM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

So smart. They made a great game, but just wait until the collective intelligence of the entire overwatch community gets to make new modes...there will eventually be a convergence that is as popular is not more popular than the default mode, a la DotA / autochess / etc
posted by lazaruslong at 6:07 AM on April 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Nice to see another game implementing mutators, even if they seem to have forgotten what they're called.
posted by one for the books at 6:25 AM on April 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

i think mutatorshop doesn't maybe roll off the tongue
posted by lazaruslong at 6:30 AM on April 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

The hamster ball one looks awesome. The remainder mostly look samey since I don't know Overwatch well enough to understand what's interesting about the match clips.
posted by ardgedee at 7:02 AM on April 26, 2019

My first thought was “man there are gonna be so many smutty game modes and videos coming out of this”.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 8:01 AM on April 26, 2019

My first thought was “man there are gonna be so many smutty game modes and videos coming out of this”.

IIRC when Overwatch launched it was much easier to extract the models from the game data than it would later become, and that's precisely what people would import them into 3D animation software and do.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:12 PM on April 26, 2019

This could become huge. Like Garry's Mode huge. Like how Half-Life spawned Counter-Strike and tons of other games huge.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:59 PM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]

This is exciting. I fell out of love with OW a few heroes ago, with the events being too formulaic and repetitive, not much fresh coming out. This could reinvigorate the community in a big way.
posted by Gordafarin at 2:56 AM on April 29, 2019