Team Deathmatch, No Limit, and 1-v-1 game modes will make more frequent returns to Overwatch, game director Jeff Kaplan said Tuesday.
Team Deathmatch was added to the arcade game mode rotation in August with much fanfare. As players were able to focus purely on taking down opponents and nothing else, it became one of the most popular game modes to date. Kaplan, clearly aware of the popularity, replied to a thread on the Overwatch forums asking for its return.
“It will come back,” he wrote. “We’re working on some changes to allow for modes like No Limits and the 1-v-1 modes to come back more often as well.”
No Limits mode has the same rule set as the standard quick play matches but allows heroes to stack, meaning multiple players can play as the same hero on the same team. So far Overwatch has has two 1-v-1 arcade game modes, Limited Duel and Mystery Duel. Limited Duel gives both players a group of three randomly chosen heroes to play, excluding Lucio, Mercy, and Bastion. Mystery Duel randomly assigns both players to play as a random hero, excluding Lucio and Mercy.
Arcade game modes are a collection of alternate games in Overwatch with their own variations and rule sets that differ from the standard way of play. So far, 13 primary arcade modes have been added to the list including the most recent Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, but only five are available to play in each rotation. Some arcade game modes were available for play for a limited amount of time based on special events such as the Summer Games or Halloween Terror, while other modes were added to celebrate the releases of new maps and heroes.