Summer Games and new hero discussed in new Overwatch developer update

Blizzard has confirmed the next set of upcoming events in its latest developer update. 

Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan confirmed today on YouTube that the Summer Games will be the next seasonal event to take place and added some further details as to what players can expect from the event. 

One of the first items Kaplan addressed in the video was the update in the schedule for the summer event. In previous years, the Summer Games have always started during the second week of August. According to Jeff, the games will instead be happening much sooner than usual. He did not confirm a specific start date, but with only four weeks until the usual timeslot, an announcement is expected soon.

Further details were also announced with regards to the new Summer Games content. The development team has planned a new way to distribute event skins for this seasonal event and intend to offer three epic skins as a reward rather than a luck-based drop.

Much like the “Baptiste Reunion Challenge” or the “D.Va Nano-Cola Challenge,” each week of Summer Games 2019 will host a challenge with an epic event skin available to unlock upon completion.

In a similar fashion to the event schedule changes, Overwatch players can also expect an update in the hero release schedule over the summer. Fans of the game have wondering when the next hero, which would be the 31st in the game, will be announced. Wrecking Ball, the hero released in the summer of 2018, was brought to live servers in July after three weeks on the PTR. This year however, Kaplan has confirmed that fans will have to wait even longer for a new hero to appear. 

The game director did not specify why the schedule has changed for the hero, but did assure viewers that it would be “worth the wait.” Kaplan also included a small clue for those eager to know who the next character in the Overwatch lineup might be and confirmed that the character will be male. 

With the next seasonal event due to start soon, fans can expect another developer update in the not too distant future. During the video, Jeff even confirmed that he’d kept the length shorter than usual as more updates are planned for just around the corner.