In the latest Overwatch developer update, said game director Jeff Kaplan rings in the new year with a thoughtful recap of last year’s journey, but there was an overwhelming amount of new information that players can look forward to in 2018. In fact, Kaplan was simply “touching the tip of the iceberg” as to what will arrive this new year for Overwatch and the loyal gamer base. After an introspective moment to talk about the maps, events, heart-wrenching animated shorts and heroes, fans have been introduced to with Moira showing up at last toward the end there, Overwatch is in preparation mode for many ideas in the works for 2018. That includes the next Overwatch hero.

Soon, the team will release the recently introduced competitive hybrid map Blizzard World, which is currently live on the PTR (Public Test Region) and it will have “tons of great easter eggs”. More importantly, Kaplan noted that in this map the team adjusted it to experiment with a new gameplay experience by paying heed to level design.

The main focus of the game are the heroes, and the next Overwatch hero is currently in internal testing. In an attempt to remain as vague as possible, Kaplan said the next Overwatch hero is a “very needed” one and the development is going smoothly so far:

So, I’m gonna be vague about some of this because I can’t reveal everything that we’re working on, but obviously one of the things that is most important to us is heroes. Overwatch is a game about heroes and we’re well along the path of hero27. We think the hero is going to be awesome. We think the hero is very needed.

As for a release date, there’s no specified window of time for now. Kaplan explains that the release date isn’t as important compared to creating an enjoyable and complete character. There are other game improvements that the developer team is hoping to touch on throughout the year as well, and that includes adjustments made to creating a better competitive environment, adding on to the main storyline of each hero, and launching events.

Aside from the next Overwatch hero, coming soon will be the Year of the Dog event to celebrate Lunar New Year, and with it will be tons of cool new content to see and collect – from emotes, icons, character skins, and more. Kaplan touched on Uprising shortly, mentioning that the experience will return, but will be “evolved” for a better gameplay experience. Following that will be the anniversary celebration event.

Beginning soon, and will very likely be revealed this month, is an update that will add a bunch of new content for base loot boxes. In response to overwhelming community feedback, the team has been hard at work improving this aspect of the game. In doing so, players won’t need to worry about time-limited skins, icons, and emotes.

Right now, the team is currently focused on introducing the next season in Overwatch League with the appropriate skins and content to commemorate the occasion, and before the Lunar New Year event sets sail! What do you think of the latest developer update? What do you hope to see as the next Overwatch hero? Let us know in the comments section below or start a conversation on Don’t Feed the Gamers Facebook page. To stay up to date on gaming news as it happens, follow us on Twitter! Here’s some of our latest:

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