Blizzcon 2017 was large-scale showcase for all of Blizzard’s titles with a particular focus on the Overwatch League. Last year Blizzard hosted the Overwatch World Cup for the first time which saw the top national teams in the world compete against each other. These teams were determined by fan voting last year. It did not really ensure the best talent from each region. South Korea won Overwatch World Cup 2016.

However, Blizzcon 2017 was not just about the Overwatch World Cup. The Overwatch World Cup 2017 was a definite step up from last year with close games and much more exciting matches. However there was so much more announced at Blizzcon 2017. This included a new hero – Moira, a new map – Blizzardworld, a new spectating experience and information about the Overwatch League.

There is no doubt that Overwatch was one of the main topics at Blizzcon 2017. With a lot riding on the success of the Overwatch League, both financially and in terms of acceptance, Blizzcon 2017 evoked interest from all corners of esports. Let us have a look at the various announcements and details revealed at Blizzcon 2017.

Moira

The twenty seventh Overwatch hero was announced at Blizzcon 2017 by Jeff Kaplan. The new support hero, called Moira is a very unique character with some similarities to other heroes yet quite different in execution. Her abilities show similarities to other heroes such as Reaper, Zenyatta and Zarya. However, they are not the same skills and definitely do not feel the same while playing. This support character also has a lot of mobility and damage compared to others in her group.

The biggest advantage for Moira is her versatility as a support hero. She is extremely mobile especially with her ‘fade’ ability which allows her horizontal displacement. Her Biotic grasp requires some good skill and positional management, which can get tricky if you are not skilled enough. The hero requires a decent skill level and yet is not difficult to master.

Skills

BIOTIC GRASP

Using her left hand, Moira expends biotic energy to heal allies in front of her. Her right hand fires a long-range beam weapon that saps enemies’ health, healing Moira and replenishing her biotic energy.

BIOTIC ORB

Moira launches a rebounding biotic sphere; she can choose between a regeneration effect that heals the allies it passes through, or a decay effect that deals damage to enemies.

FADE

Moira quickly teleports a short distance.

COALESCENCE

Moira channels a long-range beam that both heals allies and bypasses barriers to damage her enemies.

Moira Origins

The character has already received an Origins video which gives us a brief outlook on her history. Moira has been involved in the Blackwatch group which severed itself from Overwatch. Blackwatch included elements such as Reaper, Doomfist etc as they had a difference of ideologies than Overwatch.

The character is a geneticist who developed new methods and new techniques in research about genetics. Powerful techniques often result in venturing into grey areas of science, some of which might be considered illegal and immoral. However, they also turn out to be quite effective as has been portrayed in the video. While Overwatch limited her ability to research such dark and questionable streams in Science, she found a new sense of freedom under Blackwatch.

There has been no official announcement on the actual release date Moira. But we should not have to wait long as such announcements usually end up in the release of the hero within two to three weeks. We have seen similar timestamps in the past with new hero releases in Orisa, Doomfist etc. Moira is going to be extremely fun to play and her mobility makes her the most fast-paced support character. She is the only support character with such high levels of mobility, something that makes her a difficult target to kill. Her skill set requires her to be in the action constantly. While this might potentially make her an easier target to kill, her mobility provides her with an escape route.

Blizzard World

The Idea behind Blizzardworld is plain and simple. Blizzcon is the culmination of all of Blizzard’s game, titles, cosplay etc. Bringing it all together at Blizzcon is what makes the entire Blizzard community closely knit together.Making a map such as Blizzardworld which will closely resemble Blizzcon in its true nature and further unveiling it at Blizzcon is truly a masterstroke.

The map is a Hybrid map and takes its inspiration from various Blizzard titles such as Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, World of Warcraft and of course Hearthstone.

BlizzardWorld is a Hybrid map and will feature a payload as well. The attacking side will have to complete three points, which includes capturing the first point and then moving the payload through to points two and three. These sections would most likely be different in design and architecture based on which title they represent. So we can have the first point to be closely resembling Hearthstone, while the remaining two points will have World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm.

The new map will not be available for play yet as Jeff Kaplan mentioned 2018 as the release year. However, it will soon be available to play in the PTR. Players can play in the test client and point out bugs and problems within the map. Considering that we are waiting for a 2018 release for Blizzardworld, there is a high possibility of it not being one of the maps for Overwatch league Season 1.

New Spectating Feature

For long, Overwatch has been plagued with a poor viewing experience. The game which was touted as being built for esports definitely did not feel like viewing esports due to its poor visibility. The mixture of colours and the fast-paced gameplay created a very confusing mixture of video for the average new viewer. It used to take a lot of effort to actually watch and understand the game. Viewers were unable to follow their favourite teams, players in this context. Blizzard acknowledged this problem and has been working hard to ensure a revamped and good experience for viewers. They have been working with prominent personalities from the community such Monte Cristo, Doa etc to provide a good spectating client.

The new spectating feature provides a better understanding of the teams and their abilities. The teams have been provided colours which are based on whether they are the home or the Away team. Overwatch League will be using a Home and Away system for their matches. Creating two different and ‘fixed’ colours for the teams ensures that the viewer can understand the flow of the team fight. There are also ultimate percentage builders on top of the screen which will help you understand how close some character is to obtaining their ultimate.

This provides a deeper understanding behind the decision making of some of the professional players. The team coordination and the synergy that we see in many of the professional teams stems from small individual decisions. The positioning ( aggressive or defensive ) comes mainly from their intense and quick decision making.

The community has been generally positive about the changes to the viewing experience. While there are still complaints about the unusual colours, that is the extent of the disappointment. The colour scheme can be easily fixed with a few tweaks and fine tuning it according to users.

The viewership numbers for Overwatch World Cup were very encouraging especially considering the fact that Overwatch has been seeing low viewership numbers for a long time. It is one of the biggest concerns for everyone who is invested in the Overwatch esports scene. They want to ensure that Overwatch has a good viewership base, which is an indication of the interest in the game.

Reinhardt Short

There was also another short video posted about one of the most loved characters in Overwatch: Reinhardt. The main tank who has been shielding teammates since the game’s inception finally has a short video about him and how he came into the role of the tank. The video depicts him in his youth as a very aggressive and flamboyant fighter who would want to wreak havoc instead of focussing on shielding his teammates. But with a tragic ending for his friend, it resulted in Reinhardt becoming more balanced and thoughtful about his teammates.

Long-Term Plans for Overwatch

Blizzard has already promised us a long-term vision when it comes to esports and Overwatch League in particular. With a business model similar to that of traditional sports, the only way that the Overwatch League goes into profits is if it holds the interest of fans for a long period of time.

The teams have invested $20 million each into their cities and will be investing more in building infrastructure and brand advertising for themselves. Over the years, Blizzard hopes that esports will grow in the same as traditional sports grew in the past. It would provide huge growth opportunities for the various teams involved in Overwatch League.

An image posted on social website Reddit showed a close-up view of the Overwatch World Cup. We can clearly see the year 2027 printed on the bottom left part of the cup, which gives us an indication of the proposed support for the game. Of course if we are to believe Blizzard they want the game and the league to be viable for several decades and not just a few years (till 2027).

Final Thoughts

Blizzcon 2017 delivered for Overwatch. With a new hero, a new map, a new viewing experience and the follow-up Overwatch League news definitely is the ultimate news story for all Overwatch fans. Blizzard have delivered on several fronts with the news at Blizzcon. Of course all the announcements are not for ready products. We will be seeing the new map only in 2018, which means that it will most likely not be in use in the inaugural season of Overwatch League.

With Blizzcon 2017 come to an end, we can only wait for more news about the Overwatch league. Blizzard has revealed information about the Overwatch League already and there is a palpable excitement about the biggest esports league.