Jeff Kaplan’s recent post proves that the company is thinking about the possibility of releasing a level editor for the fans of the team-based shooter.
A map editor for Overwatch is something we’ve all been thinking for a while. So far all the Overwatch-inspired environments are being created with the help of Unreal Engine 4. But wouldn’t it be cool if the trusted fans had a good tool to build their own levels and actually play them in the game. Seems like Blizzard was actually considering this opportunity.
Some cool Overwatch fan-art from our contributors.
Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan noted yesterday (thx Gamasutra), that his team is trying to figure out how to make proprietary Overwatch map editor available for fans.
We are extremely open-minded about releasing a map editor for Overwatch someday. But because Overwatch was made with a brand new engine, this is not a small task or one which can happen any time soon. We have this on our long-term road map and believe heavily in user-made content. But there are many challenges ahead of us and it will be a very long road before our editor can be made available to the public.
Jeff Kaplan, Blizzard
As you can see, this might not happen soon. This might not even happen in the nearest future. But there’s a possibility and a huge opportunity for Blizzard. So far, all the content for Overwatch is very curated and made by developers themselves. Opening up to a modding community may drastically change the way the game plays. May I remind you, DOTA 2 actually rose from Defense of the Ancients. Blizzard just might be able to get some very cool content for their future games, as well is for Overwatch itself.
Overwatch is a very successful product, which sold over 20 million copies and continues to be an example for environment artist from all over the world. I guess, when the spark will start to die out, Blizzard will finally release the modding tools and the maps editor, which will change Overwatch forever.