Esperança

Esperança
Theme	▶️ ▶️
Type	Push
Location	Portugal
Terrain	Old town center
Release date	2022-10-02

Esperança is a Push map in Overwatch 2. Released on 4 October 2022, making it the 39th map added to the game.

Background

Esperança

Esperança is a sunny, coastal city in Portugal. It forms part of the hyperloop line. Many of the city's roads and paths are strictly for walking.

Gameplay

The map has a gradual incline, and extensive places for flankers and snipers.

Trivia

• Esperança translates to "Hope" in Portuguese.
• The map features iconic landmarks from different parts of the country, such as the Clérigos Tower from the city of Porto in the middle of the map and the Saint George's Castle from the city of Lisbon in the background.
• It is most likely located in Porto, as signs around the map allude to it.
  • A dev mentioned Porto when talking about Esperança in the "Twitch makes Overwatch" stream that took place on the 21st of December, further confirming it's location
  • An advertisement can be found offering cruises along the Douro River, which flows through Porto.
• The map has hints of a new faction. It has been hinted that the faction has ties to an unannounced hero.
  • Based on screenshots, the faction may be the Collective.
• In the map, a newscast can be heard in Portuguese.
  • In English: "In the years before the Crisis, Portugal faced the challenges of climate change and the rise of the sea level. Concerned with the difficult situation of his country, the Portuguese inventor Cláudio Martins returned to his homeland with his husband, the Venezuelan climatologist Hector Martins. Together, they started the construction of a Great Wall, using Cláudio's invention, a transparent material as durable as diamond called 'durovidro' (hard glass). Despite both inventor's work promising a bright future for Portugal, Fate had other plans." and "When the Omnic Crisis started, the Portuguese Army mobilized to the Great Wall, where they maintained a fearless and powerful defense against the forces of Anubis. In an age where most countries were fighting to protect their own borders, Cláudio managed to convince the Portuguese Government to make a defensive alliance with Spain. They would combine the strength of both armies in exchange for the expansion of the Great Wall of Durovidro from the coast of Portugal to the shared coast with Spain, extending it to the Strait of Gibraltar."

Development

Concept art

During development, the map was simply called "Portugal."

The goal for Esperança was to create a third Push map to debut alongside Colosseo and New Queen Street. Helder Pinto, Team 4's lead environment artist, stepped up to set the map as being in Portugal. The team took his lead (as well as that of other designers from the country) to create the map. Using "tons of vacation pictures" from the designers, the art team set out to create an accurate representation of Portugal. An entire sound team was sent out to capture ambient noise. Pinto's driving question was "what would someone think about Portugal if they have never been?" This question helped him create the mood board and early concept art for the map.

Concept art

Conceptually, Esperança is an amalgamation of various real-world cities in Portugal, including Lisbon, Porto, and Braga. It is designed to incorporate Portuguese history and culture with Overwatch-style futurism. The Great Wall seen in the background of the map is a case in point. The map itself is divided into three sections and themes: classic Portuguese architecture, lively residential streets, and the historic center surrounding the tower that marks TS-1's location at the center of the map.

Concept art

For the map's sound design, the team aspired to create an atmosphere faithful to the art, history, and culture of Portugal. Fabrizio Foti went to Lisbon and Porto to record audio, recording sounds of the cities during both day and night, and of various densities. The team wanted to use as few library assets as possible, which meant it was necessary to capture the distinct sounds that someone would hear if they lived in or visited Portugal. Fado music was added to various corners around the map, and many of the interiors and streets of themed towards Portuguese life.

For the Portuguese spoken over the intercom (see above section), the developers teamed up with a voice actor from Portugal to record materials that represented the language, dialect, and accent one might hear in Esperança.