The Custom Games browser is going to feature a new option. Workshop is its name, and the idea is that it’s going to be a robust editor in which users moderately familiar with scripting and chaining events will be able to play around with characters and maps.
That’s about the gist of it, but Jeff Kaplan (of the Overwatch team) provides examples of what could be achieved with this new mode. One example is enhancing available maps, so that, for instance, the ground is lava, so the characters need to move around without touching it lest they get set on fire. Another option is changing the match logic so that every minute everyone automatically starts playing a different character.
Characters themselves can also be monkeyed with, although you shouldn’t expect to be able to create them from scratch: you’re limited to the assets already in the game. Still, you’ll get to tweak and twist the properties of their abilities, in essence, building new kits on top of existing models. That’s neat.
Below you can watch the developer update, in which the man himself describes the feature.
It’s definitely interesting to see what their community comes up with. A 2.5D fighting game? A Space Invaders clone? A new exciting nerf for Mercy? The possibilities are endless.
Oh, and there’s the fact that everything you’ll cook up will generate a code, which you’ll be able to easily share with your friends, or anyone, really.