Already available on the PC Public Test Region, an Overwatch Deathmatch mode is coming soon to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, Blizzard announced today.
As the PTR patch notes show, Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch will be added to the Arcade, and each will support eight players:
- In Deathmatch, eight players go head-to-head until one player scores 20 points. Players will earn 1 point whenever they land the final blow on an opponent and will lose 1 point whenever they die to environmental damage (ex: falling off a cliff) or self-inflicted damage. This scoring will be tracked in a brand-new scoreboard. The first player to 20 points wins!
- In Team Deathmatch, two teams of four players face off until one team scores 30 points. Players will earn 1 point for their team whenever they land the final blow on an opponent and will lose 1 point for their team whenever they die to environmental damage (ex: falling off a cliff) or self-inflicted damage. If players are resurrected before they respawn, the corresponding point for their death will be deducted from the enemy team’s score. This scoring will be tracked in our default scoreboard. The first team to 30 points wins!
Both Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch will be playable on Hanamura, Horizon Lunar Colony, Temple of Anubis, Volskaya Industries, Dorado, Eichenwalde, Hollywood, and King’s Row. Black Forest, Castillo, Ecopoint: Antarctica, and Necropolis are for Team Deathmatch only.
“We’ve made several modifications to many of these maps (including restricting play to a specific area and developing a special respawn system) when playing in these modes,” Blizzard added. “Both modes will be available for play in Custom Games.”
The upcoming update will also include Château Guillard, a Deathmatch map located near Annecy in southeastern France.
In the above video, Game Director Jeff Kaplan explains why Deathmatch wasn’t a part of Overwatch until now.
When Blizzard dates Deathmatch, we’ll let you know.
If you haven’t played Overwatch recently, the Summer Games event is currently taking place.
[Source: Overwatch (1), (2)]
