Overwatch Map Editor Coming In The Distant Future

If you want to make your own Overwatch maps, you're in luck—or you will be, eventually. Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan says that Blizzard has a map editor and other forms of user-made content on its "long-term road map," but notes that, if creation tools come, it'll be sometime in the future.

"We are extremely open-minded about releasing a map editor for Overwatch someday," Kaplan wrote on the official Overwatch forums. "But because Overwatch was made with a brand new engine, this is not a small task or one which can happen any time soon."

Currently, players can set up their own Overwatch custom games, which don't alter map layouts but do change the game's rules in order to create races, zombie-style survival challenges, and one-vs-many firefights reminiscent of the movie Predator. User-made maps seem like the next logical step, especially given Overwatch's dedicated creative community, which has created everything from elaborate in-jokes to detailed cosplay to fanzines full of pin-up art.

User-made content wouldn't be a new area for Blizzard to explore, either. The original Warcraft and StarCraft strategy games shipped with map editors that fans used to create pretty amazing things. For example, Defense of the Ancients mixed Warcraft with tower-defense-style gameplay and kicked off the entire MOBA genre, which is the basis of popular and lucrative esports like League of Legends and Dota 2.

On the other hand, user-made content, custom maps, and mod support isn't something that Overwatch needs—roughly a year after launch, the game still has plenty of players and a healthy esports scene to keep the momentum going. User-generated content is a great way to keep fans engaged with an aging title—hello, Minecraft!—but right now, things like balance changes and new heroes like Orisa (playable right now, by the way) seem to be taking priority. Someday, folks. Someday.