Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan takes to its forums to update fans on what to expect from the game's ranked Competitive Mode when it releases this month.

One reason why Blizzard is such a popular video game company is due to its communication with its community, and how it tweaks its games over time based on fan feedback - sometimes a decade or more after they release. That Blizzard dedication and fan communication was on full display in a recent forum post by Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan, who offered fans an update on what to expect from the popular shooter moving forward.

According to Kaplan, Blizzard's main focus right now is launching the ranked Competitive Mode in Overwatch. The company has implemented changes to Competitive Mode based on beta feedback, and are planning to launch it for Overwatch by the end of the month. Even so, Kaplan stressed in his forum post that even with feedback from the beta at Blizzard's disposal, it may take multiple iterations of Competitive Mode to get it right.

Besides Competitive Mode, Blizzard has a number of other ideas and updates in the pipeline for Overwatch. This includes a number of new heroes that will be added to the game later on, such as the previously announced Sombra, and a number of unannounced new characters as well. Kaplan said that there are multiple heroes currently in development, but cautioned that not all of them will make it out of the prototype phase and into the game.

Finally, Blizzard is also working on new maps for Overwatch fans to sink their teeth into, which will presumably be added to the game as free content updates as to not split up the community. New maps and heroes are being tested at Blizzard on a daily basis, but don't expect to see anything substantial on that front until the company successfully launches Competitive Mode within the next few weeks.

All of this new content will be in addition to the tweaks and balance patches that Blizzard releases for the game over its lifetime. Overwatch is meant to be a constantly evolving experience, and moving forward, it will be interesting to see exactly how the game changes.

Of course, one of the biggest changes to Overwatch will be coming later this month in the form of the ranked Competitive Mode, and even though it will be a work in progress, it should provide dedicated players something new to do to keep the experience fresh. Hopefully Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan keeps communicating directly with the game's fans, and uses their feedback to improve and refine the game even further.

Overwatch is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Jeff Kaplan