Old Overwatch Maps Aren't Returning Anytime Soon

thegamer.com:

Overwatch 2 has a lot of great new maps, but it’s also missing a lot of classics from the original Overwatch that fans have been asking to see updated for the sequel. Maps like Paris, Volskaya Industries, and Horizon Lunar Colony, are all still available in Arcade mode, but fans want them back in the Competitive and Quickplay map pools.

Sadly, it doesn’t sound like these maps will return in their current forms to standard Overwatch 2 play, but they may come back in entirely new forms. In an interview with Polish fansite Blizzplanet, Overwatch 2 art director Dion Rogers said that there are plans to "reuse" the "aesthetics" of older maps in entirely new ones.

Related: The Overwatch Twitter Is Once Again Sharing Feet Pics On Main

BlizzPlanet noted that Blizzard had previously said remaking old maps can sometimes take as much time and effort as making a new map from scratch. Rogers contended that this is largely true, but admitted that developers do save some time by copying the old map’s themes, specifically mentioning both Hanamura and Temple of Anubis as great examples of maps with strong themes.

"Basically we have plans that are really deep, so there’s things that are in progress, that we just have to wait for those things to complete and then we can focus," he said. "But from our perspective, we intend to reuse that look in some way."

Rogers added, "You can play those modes during our events and the arcade if you want to see them again, but to get them back into a core game mode, that’s our goal."

So maybe not as we remembered them, but this might be a hint from Rogers that totally new maps based on Hanamura and Temple of Anubis are on the way. Another map that could be coming is hinted at in Numbani's spawn rooms.