No matter how over watch Players can currently look forward to changes to heroes like Mercy, Symmetra, and Orisa surveillance 2‘s ongoing beta, you’ll need to respect one of Blizzard’s reworks: the benches on the game’s New York City-inspired map.
The benches where the players pass over watch 2Grand Central Terminal’s version of Grand Central Terminal is fairly basic set dressing, but they’ve been changed since the game’s original beta based on player feedback. Those benches are now an indicator of the hopeful future of Overwatch fiction, according to the game’s narrative designer.
Earlier this month, Overwatch fan ClearTogether pointed out the issue with the game’s New York benchesas seen in a previous beta version of surveillance 2imitating a style of hostile architecture designed to discourage homeless people from sleeping on it.
I’ve been thinking about this since the beta, so I’ll just say it since no one else…
The anti-homeless architecture of Midtown’s benches makes me totally depressed. Benches like this were specifically designed to make the homeless miserable. pic.twitter.com/jXyddzRgyR
— ClearTogether ️ (@ClearTogether) June 6, 2022
(While these types of benches are common in New York City subway stations, most bench seats in the real-world Grand Central in Manhattan have been removed.)
But as ClearTogether noted in a tweet on Wednesday, those banks have since been updated surveillance 2the current beta. Blizzard has obviously taken note of the criticism and responded. “That was great feedback,” said Gavin Jurgens-FyhrieLead Narrative Designer and Writer for Overwatch, in a reply to ClearTogether on Twitter.
Jurgens-Fyhrie added that the Overwatch storytelling team “decided early in the development of the map story that Overwatch’s New York would offer people free and safe housing. Some of this is included in the VO map, more details are planned for later.”
“‘How we hope the world will be’ is a big part of our story development,” said Jurgens-Fyhrie.
Blizzard made adjustments over watch so before, even before the release of the original game, when it adapted a sexualized pose for the hero Tracer. The developer has also changed in-game content for more serious reasons, including removing real-world names of Blizzard employees referenced in-game and pulling a character skin inspired by a professional Overwatch League player was accused of sexual misconduct.
surveillance 2 will be released in October as an update to the original over watchand will be free to play.
