Blizzard World is Overwatch‘s new theme park like payload map that was announced at Blizzcon 2017 and is set to be released sometime next year. As players push the payload, they go through the Blizzard World theme park and encounter multiple Easter eggs that are connected to other Blizzard games.
The Blizzard world theme park starts out in the Hearthstone Tavern where attacking players respawn and can find multiple tables with the famous virtual tabletop card game Hearthstone. The idea behind the tavern is that guests can enjoy a beverage while playing Hearthstone. The tavern also plays the Hearthstone theme song and welcomes guests as you enter. This tavern can be quite exciting for Hearthstone fans because it gives fans the idea of how Hearthstone would be played in a real-life Blizzard world.
Once players leave the tavern, they find themselves in front of World of Warcraft’s famous Alliance city, Stormwind. Players right away hear the well-known Stormwind theme song and can find statues of the Stormwind heroes.
Once players pass Stormwind, they can find themselves in the world of Starcraft. Fans of Starcraft will instantly notice the deployed Siege Tank and a glowing Protoss Pylon in the center of the map. Players can also find Starcraft themed gift shops and restaurants where guests can purchase Terran Marine-shaped cups and Terran Marine action figures.
In this Starcraft themed area, defending players will respawn in the Heroes Arcade, which takes on the Heroes of the Storm theme. In the arcade, you will hear the Heroes of the Storm theme song and find multiple arcade games. Players will also find a list of “Murky Skeeball” high scores which show Sombra in first, D.Va in second, Junkrat in third and Soldier 76 in fourth.
As players continue to explore the theme park they will finally find themselves in King Leoric’s castle, which is known to be from Blizzard’s game, Diablo 3. As players are about to enter you find a sign in front of the castle that says “Reign of the Black King.” In the castle, players can hear the famous creepy Diablo music, while being surrounded by Diablo themed architecture, and find health and mana potions around the castle. Deep in the castle is meant to be the Payloads final destination, where players can find Leoric’s throne.
Overall Blizzard has done an incredible job with this map. Fans can certainly find a variety of easter eggs from each of their favorite Blizzard games and can instantly feel the desire for this theme park to actually exist.
Personally, I fell in love with the map from the beginning and exploring it has definitely made me squeal. The map should be released sometime early next year, along with multiple Blizzard-themed skins. Although the map has yet to be released, players can still explore and play the map in Overwatch‘s PTR (Public Test Region) server.
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Alex Camargo
Alex Camargo is an American girl who was born and raised in Miami, FL. and has an odd obsession with Hedgehogs. Recently she has left her home town to live in Gainesville, FL., as a University of Florida Gator to study journalism and become a video game journalist. Alex considers herself an honorary E-Girl and has played video games for as long as she could remember.
