Latest news with #Overwatch2
Korea Herald
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
K-pop in pixels: Collaborations between K-pop and games grow
Gaming industries' desire to be included in the cultural landscape and K-pop's narrative appeal drive ongoing collaborations From blockbuster franchises to chart-topping idols, gaming and K-pop are increasingly joining forces, as the two converge in a bid to tap into the country's most lucrative entertainment sectors and elevate gaming as a legitimate cultural force. On June 13, Japanese video game company Capcom teased fans with an image titled 'aespa X Street Fighter 6,' shared across the official Street Fighter and Capcom channels. While no additional details were released, the announcement follows online leaks and speculation. The hint emerged through an in-game discovery, where fans spotted an outfit featuring aespa's logo. Although Capcom quickly patched the item out, the official reveal signals that more details are on their way. Meanwhile, Epic Games is teaming up with Hybe for a new Fortnite collaboration. As of June 11, the battle royale's in-game soundtrack includes tracks by Hybe artists, including BTS members Jungkook and Jimin, as well as Enhypen and illit. Players can remix or perform the songs within the game. Epic Games further announced that starting Saturday, the Son Heung-min bundle will drop in Fortnite, allowing players to channel the Premier League star's signature goal celebration pose with themed emotes and gear. Popular American video game developer Blizzard has also been delving deeper into the world of K-pop. In March, Overwatch 2 launched its second collaboration with Le Sserafim, introducing new character skins and a livestream event with the group. The partnership builds on a successful 2023 team-up, which included a custom game mode and skins inspired by the group's hit track 'Antifragile.' Le Sserafim also became the first K-pop act to perform at 2023 BlizzCon, an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard, taking to the stage with their English-language single 'Perfect Night." The hit track, which was produced in collaboration with Overwatch 2, has logged more than 125 million views on YouTube as of Friday. Korean video game publisher Krafton jumped on the bandwagon in March, partnering with YG's girl group Babymonster to mark the 7th anniversary of Battlegrounds Mobile. The limited-time crossover featured themed rewards, emotes choreographed to their single 'Drip' and immersive content such as in-game photo zones. Players could also listen to Babymonster's music while battling on maps like Erangel and Rondo. The growing number of K-pop and gaming crossovers reflects a mutual strategy. For games companies, it's a way to broaden their reach beyond traditional players and lure in a new demographic. Pop culture critics add that gaming companies can also look to shed their subculture image through such collaborations. 'While games have undoubtedly become part of modern culture, public perception still lags behind. Collaborating with mainstream cultural forces such as K-pop allows games to naturally embed themselves into the cultural fabric," said pop culture critic Jung Duk-hyun. For the K-pop industry, the narrative-building potential is a major draw, Jung explained. 'Idol groups have their own lore and well-developed characters, just like video games. That makes crossovers rich with storytelling possibilities.' Financial incentives also loom large. 'People often assume other content sectors are more profitable, but gaming eclipses them all (in Korea),' Jung said. 'For the K-pop side, if there's a way to bring gamers into the fan ecosystem, there's no reason not to pursue it.'
CNET
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
Overwatch 2 Season 17 Adds Map Voting and Rounds Out Stadium's Roster
The next season of Overwatch 2 is pretty packed with content compared to other odd-numbered seasons, and developer Blizzard is going all-out with its investments into Stadium mode and player choice for the game. Season 17 is chock full of charming retro vibes, featuring a mythic skin for the resident gamer hero, an 8-bit Reinhardt skin and new heroes for Stadium, the most important mode in Overwatch. A new map is also arriving for one of the game's most underutilized core game modes, although you can choose not to play it if you don't want to thanks to the debut of the map voting system. As always, Season 17 will also introduce a suite of new events and ways to earn free cosmetics. Here's what you have to look forward to when the update launches on June 24. Players will have equally-weighted votes to choose their next competitive map. Blizzard/Screenshot by CNET Map voting is the next way to empower players during matchmaking The Overwatch 2 developers have been hard at work the past few seasons, fine-tuning the game to make each individual match feel more fun. Between tinkering with a limited return to the 6v6 match format by adding back the second tank player, adding hero perks that personalize Overwatch's cast of characters and implementing competitive mode hero bans, Blizzard is creating more ways for you to feel like you have a substantial impact on the outcome of your games. The Season 17 update will further empower you by letting you exercise some influence over what map you'll play on. That doesn't mean you'll be able to choose a map before you queue for matchmaking, but it does mean you won't necessarily get stuck playing on Havana five times in a row. Starting in Season 17, you'll be presented with three maps before the game starts. Each player has an equally-weighted vote for which map they want to play on -- once everyone has voted, the game randomly picks one of the votes and then locks in that map. You won't have complete control over what maps you play on, but you're going to have some choices now -- Blizzard's matchmaking is starting to skew toward giving you more power to choose what maps and heroes you want to see in your games. Sigma will unlock even more ways to mitigate damage and take to the skies in Overwatch 2's Stadium mode. Blizzard/Screenshot by CNET More heroes make the jump to Stadium Stadium's roster of characters grows closer to encompassing the whole cast from the core game. Sigma, Junkrat and Zenyatta are making their debuts in Overwatch 2's MOBA-like mode, giving you a chance to pick up a fresh character no matter what role you enjoy playing. New versions of Esperanca (a Push map) and Samoa (a Control map) will be coming to Stadium, letting you duke it out in bite-sized rounds in a wider variety of colorful environments. The Stadium Forge will also launch at the beginning of Season 17, allowing you to create and save item loadouts in order to test the effectiveness of certain hero builds in the late game. No longer will you have to roll the dice on buying up items and hoping they synergize well together -- now you can test them out before bringing them into the heat of battle. Season 17 will start everyone on equal footing with the first Stadium rank reset, ensuring that you have the most competitive experience possible when these new heroes and maps launch. Morocco looks lush and green in the new Overwatch 2 map, Aatlis. Blizzard/Screenshot by CNET A brand-new core map for an underutilized game mode Overwatch 2's new map, Aatlis, will see players fighting from lush gardens to train stations in Morocco. It's a Flashpoint map, so fights will move from one control point to another in one of Overwatch's largest combat arenas. Flashpoint launched with two maps (New Junk City and Suravasa) all the way back in Season 6, and no new maps have been added to the pool since then. While Flashpoint isn't exactly a fan-favorite game mode, it'll be nice to get a new map to spice up the pool after almost 10 seasons of playing on the same two massive battlefields. In the Season 17 blog post, Aatlis is described as being "built for tighter fights, cleaner rotations and fast paced momentum," so there's a chance the map's design makes fights flow quicker than in previous Flashpoint offerings. Reaper's mythic weapon skin is launching alongside mythic mech. Blizzard/Screenshot by CNET Double mythic skins at launch, alongside the opportunity to earn some free loot While the mythic hero skin usually comes out at the beginning of the season, the mythic weapon skin usually comes out later. This isn't the case with Season 17. Horang skin blends Siberian tiger imagery with special visual effects to give her and her mech unique customization options. Reaper's Steel Death shotgun skin is appropriately edgy, adding razor-sharp scythe blades to the barrels of the hero's guns. Both mythic skins will be available at the launch of Season 17, though players will have to choose only one to invest their mythic prisms into -- there's only just enough of the currency in the battle pass to afford one of these new skins. The launch of Season 17 will also kick off with the chance to earn new rewards in the Powered Up event, where players who complete 17 matches in Quick Play, Competitive or Stadium modes will earn four epic loot boxes (and subsequently, a free legendary skin). Sombra is the star of the show. Again. Blizzard/Screenshot by CNET Hacks and Hijinx limited-time mode hones in on what makes Overwatch so fun Blizzard really loves theming their events around Sombra, it seems. First we had Quick Play: Hacked experiments -- now the computer genius anti-hero is the star of Hacks and Hijinx, a new mode that begins on July 15. This limited-time experience is a 6v6 playlist that will see you square off in core Overwatch modes while new match modifiers come into play during each round. One round might implement low gravity while the next might change health packs scattered around the map into ultimate ability-charging power ups. With this mode, Blizzard wants to hone in on the chaos and confusion that differentiates Overwatch 2 from other games. Each round will have a new modifier that will force players to adapt with strategies and hero picks that can take on the challenges ahead. It's almost time to get powered up in the new arcade game-themed season. Overwatch 2 Season 17 will be released on June 24.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Overwatch 2: Map Voting And A New Map Are Coming In Season 17
The map voting screen in Overwatch 2. There's a major new feature coming to Overwatch 2. As Blizzard promised earlier this year, map voting is coming to the game and it'll be available when Season 17 goes live on June 24. There's also, at last, a brand-new Flashpoint map. The map voting feature will be in both Quick Play and Competitive – it wouldn't really make sense for Stadium. Here's how it works: once the roles are set, three randomized map options will pop up. Your vote will add a one in 10 chance to the odds of your preferred map being selected. A "roulette-style roll" will then determine which map the two teams will play on. The more votes a map gets, the more likely it is that's where you'll do battle. If you don't love any of the maps that pop up in the voting screen, you might be out of luck. Leaver penalties will be in play when voting starts, so if you back out, you might be locked out of playing Quick Play or Competitive for a while. During the map voting phase, you won't be able to see which specific players picked each map. Battle tags and team chat are also hidden. It's unclear whether you'll still be able to discuss map picks with your teammates in group voice chat. Along with map voting, there will be a brand-new map in Season 17 of Overwatch 2. It's been a very long time coming, but there will finally be a new Flashpoint map available. Aatlis will be just the third Flashpoint map in the game, and it'll be nice to have anotehr one in the rotation. Aatlis is set in Morocco. Here's how Blizzard describes it: "From lush gardens to luxury resort spaces, this one is built for tighter fights, cleaner rotations and fast-paced momentum." That sounds pretty good to me. I don't have much else to say about Aatlis, in large part because I don't know anything else about it at the minute, but here are some screenshots to tide you over until Season 17 of Overwatch 2 arrives next week: New Overwatch 2 Flashpoint map Aatlis New Overwatch 2 Flashpoint map Aatlis New Overwatch 2 Flashpoint map Aatlis There's a lot more coming in Season 17 of Overwatch 2, so check out my blog for more of what we know so far. Follow my blog for coverage of video games (including Overwatch 2) and word games. It helps me out a lot! Follow me on Bluesky too! It's fun there. And make sure to subscribe to my newsletter, Pastimes!
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Overwatch 2's Season 17 Stadium Updates: More Heroes, Maps And Other Changes
Junkrat in Overwatch 2 When Overwatch 2 rolls into Season 17 on June 24, it'll be the first new season for the Stadium mode, and there are a lot of changes in store. We'll need to wait for the patch notes (which will probably drop next Monday, if not Tuesday) to get the full rundown, such as changes to items and powers, but there are some important things we know about as things stand. First of all, three more heroes are coming to Stadium when Season 17 goes live: Zenyatta, Sigma and Junkrat. Again, we'll need to wait for the patch notes – and maybe even for Season 17 to start – to get a full breakdown of their powers and items. Here's hoping for a ton of fun ability tweaks and enhancements. Two maps from the main game are coming to Stadium: a shorter version of the Esperança Push map with elevation changes, and the volcano stage of Samoa. Both have been retooled with all the sports-like Stadium aesthetics of the other maps in the mode. The Samoa volcano stage in Overwatch 2's Stadium mode. Two major new features are coming to Stadium in Season 17 as well. Stadium Forge will allow you to create, save and share your hero builds, including early- and late-game loadouts. You'll be able to set these up for every hero. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Custom games are coming in Season 17 as well. This is a big one for a few reasons. Until now, there hasn't really been a way to play Stadium outside of the standard ranked mode (and the training mode). Custom games will offer players a chance to practice Stadium. You'll also be able to tinker with the rules to create some wild variants of Stadium. On top of all of that, Stadium will have a rank reset when Season 17 goes live, so it'll be time to start climbing the ladder again. Drives and new All-Star rewards will be available too. Season 17 also brings the first ever Stadium rank reset, giving everyone a fresh start to prove their skill. Add in Drives to reward consistent performance, Custom Games for making your own rules, plus fresh All-Star rewards, and Stadium becomes a real proving ground to upgrade your mastery. There's a lot more coming in Season 17 of Overwatch 2, so check out my blog for more of what we know so far. Follow my blog for coverage of video games (including Overwatch 2) and word games. It helps me out a lot! Follow me on Bluesky too! It's fun there. And make sure to subscribe to my newsletter, Pastimes!
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Overwatch 2's New Mythic Weapon Will Be Available When Season 17 Goes Live
Mythic skin in Overwatch 2. There's going to be something brand new in terms of Overwatch 2 skins when Season 17 goes live on June 24. For the first time, the latest Mythic weapon skin will be available right when the season starts. That means you won't have to wait until the midseason patch as usual for the new Mythic weapon to drop. We already knew a bit about the Mythic skin that will be available in Season 17. But there will also be a new Reaper Mythic weapon to unlock too. Let's take a peek at both of these Mythics that are coming to Overwatch 2 in Season 17. Mythic skin is called Horang. It's all about "channeling the spirit of the Siberian tiger." The customization options pay tribute to "the timeless tale of Sister Sun and Brother Moon," Blizzard said. As ever, it costs 80 Mythic Shards to fully unlock the Mythic skin. You'll be able to unlock it in four stages, and here's how Blizzard describes those: Want another look at Mythic skin? Of course you do. Here you go: Mythic skin in Overwatch 2. As for the Reaper Mythic weapon, it's called Steel Death. I love it already. Blizzard says this version of the Hellfire Shotguns have "sharp edges forged in soulfire and destruction echoing the cold inevitability of his wrath." Cool. Here's how the studio describes the four levels of Reaper's Mythic weapon skin: The Mythic weapon looks pretty sick, I have to admit, even if it is – like Reaper himself – a bit edgelordy. Here's what the weapon looks like, along with an utterly rad-looking kill effect: Reaper's Mythic weapon skin in Overwatch 2. The kill effect for Reaper's Mythic weapon skin in Overwatch 2. Look, I'm not very good with Reaper. I am unlikely to ever play him much in Quick Play, Comp or Stadium. But Mystery Heroes is where I live most of the time and this Mythic weapon looks rad as heck, so I am probably going to pick it up as soon as possible. As for the Mythic, that's cool too. In recent seasons, I've been prioritizing Mythic weapons over Mythic skins, largely because you can actually see the former on screen almost all the time. That's changed a bit with the advent of Stadium and its third-person mode. And, since is one of my faves and I have some Mythic shards to spare, I might snap up Mythic skin too. There's a lot more coming in Season 17 of Overwatch 2, so check out my blog for more of what we know so far. Follow my blog for coverage of video games (including Overwatch 2) and word games. It helps me out a lot! Follow me on Bluesky too! It's fun there. And make sure to subscribe to my newsletter, Pastimes!
