Volskaya Industries

Volskaya Industries is an Assault map in Overwatch.





Official Description
Russia was one of the countries hit hardest by the Omnic Crisis, but during the rebuilding process, it rode the wave of the mechanized labor industry's revitalization and entered a period of rapid growth. However, after recent attacks from the long-dormant Siberian omnium, Russia has returned to war footing, guarding its sparkling cities with the massive, human-piloted Svyatogor mechs developed and produced by Volskaya Industries.

Background
Volskaya Industries is a Russian company involved in Svyatogor production, and is Russia's premier anti-omnic security force. Katya Volskaya is its CEO. Based in St. Petersburg, its frigid mechworks are a hotbed for conflict and corporate backstabbing.

In more recent times, in light of increased aggression from the Siberian omnium, the company increased production. Shortly after Guillermo Portero stepped down as CEO of LumériCo, Volskaya experienced a security breach in its network. This was at the hands of Sombra, who was able to shut down the company's security systems as she, Widowmaker, and Reaper (all Talon operatives) conducted a raid on the company's mech factory in order to assassinate Katya. Katya survived, but numerous personnel were killed and at least one mech was destroyed.

Gameplay
Moving platforms exist in the map.

A flanking route runs over the left edge of the map. It is usable by Tracer, Reaper, Genji, D.Va, Pharah, Widowmaker, Winston, Mercy, Lúcio, Junkrat, and Sombra. In addition, Symmetra can place her teleporter to get any hero across the gap. However, Mei can place her Ice Wall on the edge of the platform, preventing these heroes from getting across.

Strategy
With good enough defense, the first gate can be one of the hardest choke points to push through. Fortunately for attacking teams, the large gap to the left of the attackers' spawn can be crossed by many heroes. This leads to an open area which allows the player to get behind the defending team and aid their team in pushing through the choke point. Heroes capable of crossing the gap are Genji, Pharah, Reaper, Tracer, D.Va, Mercy (with help from another teammate), Sombra, and Lúcio, as well as Winston and Junkrat with much greater difficulty. Symmetra, however, can teleport any hero across the gap to allow a fast capture of the point.

To prevent the attacking team from crossing the gap, Mei can block most attackers with her Ice Wall while crossing. Torbjörn or Symmetra can also guard the gap with their turrets at the risk of leaving the choke point with fewer strong defense heroes. One way to avoid these counters is to go over the building separating the gap, rather than around it, using D.Va or Pharah, although this can be a difficult maneuver.

Trivia

 * When Zarya is chosen on Volskaya, she will sometimes quote a line, in Russian, from Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's play Cherry Orchard. When translated it reads as "A human has a hundred senses and with his death only five known to us will die. The other ninety-five stay alive."
 * The company has an official website which was part of the Sombra ARG. The current text on the site can be roughly translated to "Exceeded server loads. Conducting maintenance."
 * According to a voice line, Ana is "Still on their watchlist". It is unknown what she did to get on the watchlist.
 * The map appears as a battleground in Heroes of the Storm, labelled "Volskaya Assault."
 * A similar map named Iron Star was cut during development of Overwatch. It may have been a precursor to Volskaya.
 * The spawn room for the attacking side on Point A resembles a church in St. Petersburg, the Church on Spilled Blood.