Gamescom news 2016: New 'Overwatch' map unveiled

There has been quite a number of reveals made at this year's Gamescom in Cologne. Blizzard has recently unveiled "Overwatch's" first free new map. Set in the picturesque rural environs of Stuttgart, Germany, Eichenwalde now serves as one of the international arenas for the game's team-based shooting campaigns.

Eichenwalde serves as a multiplayer arena for the game's Assault and Escort hybrid matches. In this setting, the attacking team breaks through the castle gates using a battering ram, control a point, and escorts a vehicle as invading troops rush in to storm the keep.

"The middle part of this map is very vertical. It all kind of takes place — it spirals around — this castle, and you have to cross a draw bridge at the end of it," explained Overwatch's Lead System Designer, Aaron Keller at Gamescom as reported by IGN.

Eichenwalde was the ideal location befitting an arena where teams could blow up each other with whatever payload at their disposal. In the game's increasingly complex storyline, the map had a historic value as one of the sites where famous battles in the Omnic Crisis were waged. The global crisis became the compelling reason for the creation of the original Overwatch team. As the lore goes, the crisis prompted Crusaders leader Balderich von Alder to organize his army to prepare for a battle against the onslaught of swarming automatons called Omnics. Despite being slain in the ensuing battle, the German military managed to push the invaders away at the end.

"Outnumbered and outgunned, they were ultimately slain during the resulting combat. However, thanks to their valiant efforts, the German military was able to push back the Omnic offensive and win the fight," the maps description reads as reported by International Business Times.

Meanwhile, the team-based shooter has attracted more 15 million players since its May launch this year on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, VentureBeat reported. The arrival of content add-ons like new maps is expected to keep its increasingly growing user base engaged. Blizzard is set to release the map in September.