Dorado
Where it is:
The city of Dorado, Mexico and the LumériCo power plant built there.
What’s going on:
The Dorado map takes place during the Festival de la Luz, a holiday that marks the end of the Omnic Crisis during which most of Mexico’s power grid was destroyed. LumériCo, who’s CEO is also the president of Mexico, built a power plant in the heart of Dorado that makes up the map’s final point—which explains why you suddenly go from small town to cyber-facility when pushing the payload.
LumériCo is getting ready to reveal a new fusion plant, and the payload you are pushing to the LumériCo plant is assumedly a piece of that project. While this may seem like a cut and dry case of good guys trying to help with clean energy while bad guys are trying to hijack the goods, it’s probably not that simple. In Soldier: 76’s short Hero, he attacks members of Dorado’s Los Muertos gang looking for information, and can sometimes be heard saying “I wanna know what LumériCo’s been up to” during the setup for a match.
Things to look for:
The first defender’s spawn is in a bank vault, and if you take a moment to examine your surroundings it becomes clear pretty quick that Roadhog and Junkrat were the ones who robbed it.
There are also multiple references to a yet unannounced character named Sombra, who is also referenced in one of Reaper’s voice lines. This NeoGAF thread is the best resource for more about Sombra.
Route 66
Where it is:
Somewhere along Route 66 in the American southwest.
What’s going on:
Route 66 takes place on an iconic stretch of highway, now turned into the rundown hideout of the Deadlock Gang—of which McCree is a former member, which is why you can hear him say “Doesn't feel right comin' back here” when on defense and a picture of him is pinned to a dartboard in the bar. The map is one of a few where the attackers can pretty clearly be pinned as the “bad guys” during a match.
The Deadlock Gang has blown up a railway that stretches over the road at the start of the map and stolen a strange looking device from the military train they derailed. The attackers have to push that device, which is speculated to be some sort of satellite or bomb, along the road and into the Deadlock base which is the last point of the map.
Things to look for:
The attackers spawn in a diner filled to the brim with other Blizzard references, including a check on the wall signed by Deckard Cain.
Inside the Deadlock Gang’s base you can find a number of boxes and crates with symbols from nearly every organization in the Overwatch world.
The second attacker’s spawn is in the “Cave of Mystery” and has a (fake?) skeleton in the cave wall of the same type of alien seen in the movie being made on the Hollywood map.
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Where it is:
The decommissioned Watchpoint: Gibraltar Overwatch base, either based off of or built into The Rock of Gibraltar at the southern tip of Spain.
What’s going on:
We have a very detailed idea of what’s happening during a match on Watchpoint: Gibraltar because Winston, the scientist that he is, keeps extensive notes on a blackboard in the attacker’s spawn. It reads:
Winston's To-Do List!
Step 1: Move satellite drone to launch platform!
Step 2: Launch drone into synchronous orbit
Step 3: Triangulate global "Recall" signal
Step 4: Call Overwatch agents back to active duty!!!
So that’s exactly what you are doing, moving the satellite (the payload) over to a rocket to prepare it for launch. In fact, you can see the rocket blast off in the background of the victory screen if the attacking side wins. The “Recall” part of his to-do list is also a reference to the short he stars in, Recall, which shows him at the Watchpoint: Gibraltar base deciding whether or not to call the former Overwatch agents back together.
Things to look for:
The attacking spawn has lots of little nods and references to Winston, as well as a couple other agents of Overwatch. While there aren’t really any big revelations in these, the many small details help color Winston’s character, including this adorable voice line when on the attacking team:
Thanks to the Overwatch Gamepedia wiki for that soundclip.
Page 1: Capture maps - Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, and Volskaya Industries
Page 2: Payload maps - Dorado, Route 66, and Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Page 3: Hybrid and Control maps - Hollywood, King's Row, Numbani, Ilios, Nepal, and Lijiang Tower
