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Overwatch Has 6 Maps In Development, Looking To Add Subtitle Support

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Published: April 25, 2017 11:33 AM

Today Jeff Kaplan took to the Overwatch forums to answer some questions that had been posted recently. The first of Kaplan's posts has to do with new maps coming to the game this year, and the second he responded to a deaf player asking about Overwatch getting support for subtitles for the heroes voice lines.

In a post asking if getting two new maps a year was "enough" Kaplan answered saying:

We currently have 3 maps in development, all past the initial playtesting phase that are "standard" maps (QP/Comp). While something could always change, all 3 of those are looking likely for a release this year. We also have 3 non-standard maps in development (these won't go in QP/Comp).
So from this, it looks like their are three maps in the same standard style as Oasis and Eichenwalde, and three maps that would be for the 3v3 game mode like Eco Point: Antarctica or possibly for specific events like the Summer Games game mode and the latest Uprising game mode. One comment stated that they wouldn't mind a slow down of new maps if it meant that Blizzard would release a map editor for Overwatch. Kaplan ended his comment with a bit of tease saying "We also have a few other experiments going on. Hopefully this will satisfy some of what you're looking for. We want to play on these maps as badly as you guys do. We'll work as fast as we can!"

The second post that Kaplan responded to was by a deaf player who asked about adding subtitle support for in-game voice lines saying, "Maybe it would be nice to incorporate voice line subtitles into Chat window. I am not saying we should have 'footsteps' notification, most of the deaf/hard of hearing community relies visual elements and notifications in the game." Kaplan responded saying:

Uprising is the first event to support subtitles. We now have some of the underlying tech and systems in place to proliferate subtitle support to other parts of the game. The team is very passionate about adding subtitle support.
So subtitle support seems to be on its way, although with no real ETA to speak of. It's good to see the continued interaction by the Overwatch team with the community, even if you disagree with their stances, and definitely, helps players to feel like their concerns are at least being seen. With any luck, we'll see one of the new maps or a hero (Terry Crews' Doomfist please) release for Overwatch's one year anniversary, but after that, we'll have to wait for Blizzard to decide when they want to reveal future additions.
Kyle Downey TechRaptor
| Staff Writer

Staff Writer looking to keep you both informed and entertained. Favorite games include: Pokemon, Overwatch, Golden Sun, Portal, and Elder Scrolls.

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