Overwatch is going through a bit of a Reinhardtissance at the moment, thanks to its rebranding (or unbranding?) and years of legwork under the direction of Aaron Keller. After dropping the 2 and making hundreds of changes literally, Overwatch hit a new all-time peak on Steam, and the engine has just kept on going.
The numbers have only gotten better since the launch of Reign of Talon. Overwatch had a higher daily player count in its second weekend vs. launch weekend, the first time that happened since Overwatch 2 launched in 2022. According to Blizzard, that’s 16 cat years for you, jet-pack enthusiasts.
For people familiar with Overwatch, it’s no secret that a resurgence is happening. What’s unexpected is the length of its continuance.
If you had told me, “Hey, Overwatch changed a bunch of stuff and went back to its roots, plus added a cat character,” I’d be like, “Ah, that’s why it’s popular.” But if you told me that popularity would keep growing, I would have given you a mild stare. Thankfully, that overpowered kitty nightmare was nerfed.
What's bringing players back?
I haven’t played Overwatch in years; I went on to other games. I didn’t cash in on the Marvel Rivals craze, but I’ve kept my love of multiplayer shooters alive and kicking.
I’ve seen the rise and fall of XDefiant, gone through the “1.0 release” of Tarkov, played through the peak of Rainbow Six Siege X and its Jynxi craze, and have fallen in love with Battlefield all over again despite the player count issues — I never once thought I’d be back to Overwatch, but this weekend I downloaded it one more time.
What I found was fun, an engaging community that was both helpful and curious as a mixture of veterans, returning players, and newcomers all filtered into the pot. The toxicity isn’t as present as it once was because players are back to enjoying themselves, for now at least. Sure, things will change as the casuals drop away, and the players become more familiar with all the new paint Blizzard has put on, but it's like playing Overwatch when it was new all over again.
5 new heroes, health regen for everyone, massive role changes, gameplay overhauls, and more, all of it feels so fresh. I know I admitted to not having played Overwatch in a while, but it felt like an entirely different game than what I left.
Seriously, if you’ve ever liked Overwatch in the past, now is the time to jump back in and at least give it a shot. If you’ve swapped platforms (like me), it’s super easy to connect your ole’ Battlenet account to whatever platform you’re using today. Took me all of 3 minutes.
The game is in a spot where I feel confident enough to say here’s to the next 10 years of the hero shooter that started them all. Hats off to your team!
Have you given Overwatch another chance?
If you have, what's your favorite part? You can say anything but the cat hero!
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