Jump Pads Galore - Three map reworks for Season 4 and the new hero teased
On the final day of the 2026 Midseason Championship, Blizzard Entertainment announced multiple map reworks set to launch with the arrival of Season 4. Overwatch Game Producer Ren Soanes went through the changes in great detail coming to Paraíso, Eichenwalde, and Busan.
The first rework we got to see was Paraíso, the Brazilian hybrid map that was released with the Launch of Overwatch 2 back in 2022. As Ren Soanes took us through the map, we saw a plethora of changes focused on providing new flank routes, giving easier access to high ground, and refreshing the worst parts of the battlefield.
Initially out of spawn, attackers can access an elevator to climb to a rooftop pool, getting high ground over the defenders.
There is also a flank route to the left with more cover, helping attackers push forward. Point A itself also features a nice lore update, with a statue of Domina - the Vice President of the Viskar Corporation - gracing the objective, and adding a little bit of cover.
The slums into the second point received changes too. Many staircases and new doors change how this space is navigated.
The largest changes to the map come in the third point, where Lúcio’s Club Synesthesia has changed. Ren mentioned the introduction of a new Frog Paludarium (fancy name for froggy fish tank), new music, and a brand new dance floor, which was teased to be reactive to Sound Barrier.
The historic castle of Eichenwalde, the first map ever added to the game post-launch, is also receiving changes. These changes overall gave the attackers easier high ground access and movement options, allowing the first choke point and especially the second high ground to be less oppressive.
The first change will give the attackers an elevator immediately out of spawn to gain high ground access.
The only other first point change was two planks on the coast of the map, allowing an easier flank method for characters to sneak behind the defenders.
Going onto the second point, the two main changes help give heroes an easier ability to scale the castle, notorious for its oppressive high ground. A small wooden staircase will help attackers directly enter the second floor.
The much more fun change comes in the basement of a castle, where the window into the pit now features a jump pad. While the height this pad will launch you is not yet known, it's safe to assume this jump pad will allow people to climb to the top floor.
The final change to Eichenwalde comes at the end of the map, with the spawn room gaining three new doors.
Two doors further extend the safety of defenders on either side, and a new circular door allows defenders to climb up and gain a direct view of the point, similar to the door in between Point B and C.
The final map rework has been teased throughout the year, as Busan had seen various hints and story teasers. At the start of the year, a plaque was placed on the map detailing the battles between the M.E.K.A. Squad and the Gwishin Omnics, including a plan for the South Korean military to use an experimental EMP bomb to attack the underwater omnium.
At the start of Season 3, the EMP was placed in M.E.K.A. Base, and D.Mon’s mech was moved out of its storage room directly off the point. In the midseason update, D.Mon’s Mech was seen getting some “well-needed upgrades,” teasing her not-so-subtly as the next hero.
In Season 4, Busan has been attacked by the Junkers, who have reworked an old Omnic-Crisis-era flying machine into a mothership. This mothership was originally found by Junkrat, kept hidden as his “treasure,” and then taken by Junker Queen and Wrecking Ball in the A Friendly Rivalry story.
With the lore update, Busan received changes to all three control points. Downtown has been taken by the Junkers, with various trinkets, treasures, and graffiti littered around the city. One of these new treasures is a friend for the famed “Jiggy Cow,” and the Junkers have set up a “Jiggy Pig” outside the opposing spawn point.
The Junkers have also taken over the train schedule pillar just off the objective, retrofitting it with a jump pad. A quick look at the train moving through the station will see it covered in spikes, likely added by the new visitors.
Sanctuary saw smaller changes, with the largest change coming to the color scheme. The autumn foliage has been altered from reds and yellows to a vibrant green to better match the Summer season.
A new Mega health pack was added in a mineral water spring, just at the midpoint of the map. The sanctuary also gives you the best view of the Busan skybox, featuring the aforementioned Junker Mothership and the destruction of the city below.
Heading to MEKA Base, the main path to the high ground now features bright yellow flooring, better highlighting its purpose as the intended path. There is also a new extension towards the high ground, giving attackers multiple paths and a looser choke point. Significant for the lore, D.Mon’s Mech is now out of the workshop, and the EMP bomb that started the season here is now missing, with a sparking monitor in its place.
This EMP may now be in the Junkers’-and therefore Talon’s possession, setting up a story beat for the new season. The other changes to MEKA Base mostly exist around the spawn, opening up the ceiling and better connecting the multiple pathways.
After all of these map changes, the screens throughout the arena in Paris booted to life in a neon green, reminiscent of D.Va’s re-mech animations. This emoticon then flashed onto the screen, most likely the symbol for D.Mon. Before a hero trailer could grace the stage, Dion Rodgers shut down the Dev Stream, to the disappointment of the crowd. The screen revealed the phrase “Tune in August 6th,” teasing the release date for the Hero reveal and trailer. With season 4 set to release on August 11, it will be a very short wait for more information.