Eagle-eyed Overwatch players may have found evidence of a potential rework of the assault map Hanamura after familiarizing themselves with Kanezaka.
The game’s newest map, Kanezaka, is unique in that it’s positioned directly below Hanamura and can be seen when looking at it from above.
While there is no mistaking the large buildings seen off in the distance on Kanezaka as the ones from Hanamura, there are some slight differences that could point towards a future rework.
As Redditor ‘_Panthera_Unca_’ explained in their post, “on Kanezaka you see Hanamura, but it looks different to the actual map, in particular, the tower in the Middle (on Kanezaka) has replaced these two buildings, but the main tower for 2nd and 1st seems to be the same.”
It begs an interesting question: why would Blizzard create a different version of Hanamura when it’s supposed to be the same map?
The Redditor has a theory that Blizzard is reworking Hanamura, but are saving it for Overwatch 2.
“Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I think it wouldn’t even be like Blizzard to not add Kanezaka to Hanamura, with the love for detail they have shown in the past but putting in a wrong model just seems so out of place for them,” they concluded.
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Assault/2CP game modes are, for many Overwatch players, the bane of their existence. The mode is widely controversial, requiring plenty of teamwork to pull off a successful attack.
Blizzard has discussed potential changes to 2CP in the past and even let users test some concepts with the Experimental Mode, but any major fix would require a whole map rework.
Notably, both Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony have been removed from the competitive rotation for a long time to undergo reworks, so it’s possible that more maps are being redesigned behind the scenes.
We’ll have to wait and see what Blizzard has planned, but expect to hear more news on Overwatch 2 and maybe even what’s happening with Hanamura come BlizzCon in February.