Overwatch 2 shows Toronto like you've never seen it before
Toronto got a shoutout — well really, much more than just a shoutout — at Blizzard Entertainment's massive gaming convention in California over the weekend.
The video game developer behind such franchises as Warcraft and Diablo announced the second chapter of its popular multiplayer game Overwatch on Friday, and it includes a number of new playable maps, including one of Toronto.
this is so damn cool!! love seeing my own city all cyberpunk and futuristic. might actually get ovw just to explore this map...
— jules 🍥 serves up hinata-kun (@sugawara_kush) November 2, 2019
The original Overwatch, released in 2016, features a mix of real and fictitious locales in Japan, Greece, the U.S., and more, but doesn't include any maps set in Canada.
The new Toronto map depicts a futuristic, augmented version of the city, showing off landmarks from City Hall and the Rogers Centre to the Gooderham (a.k.a. Flatiron) Building and the iconic Toronto sign.
The new map Overwatch 2 with the maple leaf statue player 😂. Ok, we get it Toronto.
— Whesley Brancaleone (@whesbran) November 3, 2019
The map also features a giant statue of a Leafs player (perhaps an homage to the Hockey Hall of Fame), because, you know, hockey.
There are even nods to the GTA's orange-and-green Beck taxis and some very high-tech looking TTC streetcars. And, of course, the CN tower makes an appearance, and Canadian flags abound.
Learned today that this humorous Overwatch 2 Toronto subway map was made by a former studio concept artist who knew the pains of TTC transit well. So weird routes&stops are probably intentional. Also note the weird circle route goes right through Lansdowne stop, closest to studio pic.twitter.com/pYPgP3WKl0
— Kathryn Long 👻😼 (@StarKat99) November 4, 2019
Fans are also freaking out about the game's imaginary version of Toronto's future transit system, which appears to boast 11 different subway lines.
It’s pretty rewarding to see Overwatch 2 have a Toronto map.
— dylan has a filthy animal (@dylanhasadog) November 4, 2019
Whether or not you're a fan of the game, it's pretty cool to see how Overwatch creators have rendered this somewhat mythical Toronto, and that they decided to include our city in the game at all.
