Map voting is finally coming to Overwatch 2 in Season 17, giving players in both Competitive and Quick Play more control over the game mode and maps they compete on.
Besides Hero Bans, which were introduced in Season 16, Map Voting was one of Overwatch’s most requested features for years.
Ever since the game launched back in 2016, there have been maps and modes that some players just don’t like. From 2CP in the OW1 days to certain Push maps in the sequel, everyone has preferences and prefers some maps more than others.
Well, for those who would rather queue into Kings Row than New Junk City, you’ll finally get the chance starting Season 17. This is how it will work.
Overwatch 2 devs reveal Map Voting feature
On June 17, the devs discussed Map Voting in a blog post, stating that after role queue locks, players will get three random map options to vote on.
“Every vote adds a 1-in-10 chance to that map’s odds, and the winner is selected using a roulette style roll,” they explained.
With 10 people in a match, this essentially means that if everyone votes for the same map, it will be chosen. However, if there’s one holdout and a single player votes for a different map, there would still be a chance that it gets picked.
In other words, while you can influence what map you pick on, Map Voting doesn’t function based on majority rules.
During the map voting process, team chat, battle tags, and votes are hidden. This isn’t surprising as it could prevent toxicity, but teams with pre-made squads could have an advantage if they can coordinate their votes.
Additionally, the devs say leaver penalties begin as soon as voting starts, so anyone who quits during the map voting process will be penalized.
The OW2 devs will also be using data from map voting similar to how they’re treating hero bans and will be adjusting certain maps accordingly.
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