Overwatch‘s idyllic Oasis map is now available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Blizzard has announced. Game director Jeff Kaplan had previously noted the release date as early 2017, although we weren’t expecting it arrive this soon. A preview trailer (above) has been released to coincide with the launch, giving players a sweeping birds-eye view of the new arena and its landmarks, including scores of palm trees, busy highways and an ominous-looking tower punctuating the horizon.
“Researchers and academics from around the region came together to found a city dedicated to scientific progress without restraints—a monument to human ingenuity and invention,” says Blizzard in its own description, adding that “the city and its inhabitants are governed by the Ministries, a collection of brilliant minds who possess many secrets that have attracted the interest of powerful organizations from around the world.” The shady terrorist cell Talon is no doubt one such organization that’s interested in scoring the technology hidden within the city, whatever it may be.
As per the existing suite of maps, Oasis will offer its own unique brand of objective-based gameplay. Players will need to take advantage of jump pads scattered throughout the map in order to capture and defend three separate control points all while avoiding environmental hazards, including heavy traffic.
Overwatch‘s second year is already off to a big start then, but what about the rest of 2017? New characters, maps and gameplay tweaks are on the way in the near future, says Kaplan, although when exactly they’ll be available in the live game remains to be seen. Check out Blizzard’s full year-end recap here.