Blizzard Apologizes To Entire Country Of Australia About Overwatch, Here's Why

Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan has issued an apology to the entire country of Australia over perceived "cultural insensitivity" regarding the new Junkertown map. The map is set in Australia, and it has a sign that uses the American term "take-out" instead of the Australian version "take-away."

Kaplan responded on Reddit, saying he is sorry about this mistake, and pledging that a future patch will fix it. "I'd like to offer a direct apology to the entire country of Australia. Please forgive our cultural insensitivity. We will fix this in an upcoming patch (the sign travesty will most likely go live for some period before being fixed)," he said. I've also been told by Muselk that our coffees are too large as well. We're learning... trying, over here..."

As Kotaku points out, this isn't the only element of the new Junkertown map that is gathering some amount of controversy. The map's announcement trailer (above) has voiceover that says, "They thought they could take our land and give it to the machines."

Blizzard caught some heat on social media over the "they thought they could take our land..." line in light of Australia's controversial history regarding indigenous groups.

The Junkertown map is playable at Gamescom this week, so that could mean a public release is not far off. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more. A new Overwatch animated short is also on the way, to be revealed at Gamescom on August 23.

In other Overwatch news, the latest seasonal event, Summer Games, is now in its final week. So go get those skins now while you still can! Additionally, Blizzard has announced some major changes for Competitive Season 6--you can read more about them here.