Overwatch gives South Korea some love with new map and D.Va short | Gaming News

Blizzard Entertainment revealed a new Overwatch animated short during a presentation today at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. It also showed that the team-based shooter is getting a new map set in Busan, South Korea. You can watch the new short above.

The short features D.Va, the esports star-turned-warrior, who defends her home in South Korea from attacks by evil robots called Omnics. It’s now on Blizzard’s public test realm (PTR) server for playtesting.

Overwatch launched in May 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It has become a huge hit with over 40 million players, and Blizzard has invested heavily into esports with the Overwatch League. New content like maps keeps those players engaged, while animated shorts helps make them more invested in the shooter’s characters. The new maps also freshen up the competitive scene, as new locations mean that teams have to learn how to play in new areas and develop new strategies. People watching competitive Overwatch then become engaged players in the actual game. Esports events can even bring in new players.

This short won’t do much to stop criticism from players on places like Reddit about the way Blizzard has been developing Overwatch’s story. The shooter is over two years old, but these snapshots of story still spend time introducing characters and showing us background events. Little has happened to explain the Overwatch world’s present plot, which involves the gorilla scientist Winston trying to reform the world-protecting organization.

The D.Va short looks great and has some impressive action, but it doesn’t give us any new story details (outside of learning that D.Va has a friend).

Blizzard also released an overview for the new map, which you can watch above. Busan is a Control Point map, meaning that teams will compete to hold a central point on three different areas. Locations in Busan include a bustling downtown, a sanctuary surrounded by gardens and temples, and the MEKA base (that’s the defense group D.Va belongs too).