Blizzard Entertainment has announced a new feature for Overwatch players looking to stretch their creative muscles: the Workshop.
The new mode allows players to manipulate Overwatch’s code to create new objects, alter game physics, and edit heroes to effectively create new playable characters. The mode already includes a few built-in modifications, including a “floor-is-lava” mode, to demonstrate the Workshop’s capabilities.
Due to its code-based nature, this new mode is largely intended for use by programmers and hardcore Overwatch enthusiasts, referred to as “power users” by Blizzard vice president Jeff Kaplan in the Workshop’s introductory video. However, the mode is accessible by experts and novices alike and will act as an introduction to game design for less-experienced users. The mode involves an automatic debugging function to clean up users’ scripts, and allows users to share finished scripts with each other in order to propagate interesting game modes and heroes.
The manipulation of hero data in the Workshop also gives insight into the development and testing phase of official new heroes like Baptiste. However, the Workshop does not allow users to create or test new maps.
The introduction of the Workshop’s wacky potential is a much-needed injection of new content into Overwatch, which has seen its popularity stagnate slightly due to a slow-paced metagame and general lack of new features following its release almost three years ago.
Check out Blizzard’s in-depth guide to the new mode here.
