Overwatch
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Is the Overwatch player count going down in 2019?
Olivia Richman
Despite players wanting to know more, Blizzard has yet to release the stats behind the number of people still playing Overwatch. The most recent figure was “over 40 million monthly players,” which was solely based on the number of copies sold. This number didn’t satisfy curious Overwatch fans, who pointed out that this statement doesn’t take many factors into account. Many Overwatch followers and critics alike often say the game …
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How to earn Overwatch League Grand Finals exclusive rewards
Olivia Richman
The Overwatch League Grand Finals will see the San Francisco Shock face the Vancouver Titans for the Season 2 championship title. While the intense action between the two equally skilled teams will be satisfying enough for Overwatch League viewers, Blizzard has announced that fans will also get Grand Finals exclusive rewards for watching the action on Twitch. Viewers who tune in for an hour will receive the in-game “Tailgate” spray, …
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Overwatch patch 1.40 nerfs Sigma, Symmetra, and Zarya
Fariha Bhatti
A new Overwatch patch has been released by Blizzard for the retail version of the game and is now available on all platforms. Patch 1.40 introduces a number of balance changes to the hero roster, including both buffs and nerfs to the latest addition, Sigma. The Bastion Brick event is also live with the patch. In Sigma’s first adjustments on live servers since his release, the tank hero has received …
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Overwatch League guide to meta and hero compositions
Olivia Richman
Overwatch League Season 2 was once thought to be a failure. More and more people seemed to be disinterested in watching the matches, and the Twitch viewership started to decline. This was almost solely thought to be because of the GOATS meta taking over almost every single match. That changed with the 2-2-2 role lock, which forced teams to implement DPS back into their compositions and strategies. It also allowed …
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Twitch streamer Fareeha gets warning for inappropriate attire
Olivia Richman
Overwatch streamer and Twitch partner Fareeha Andersen made it clear that she felt a warning she received from the streaming platform was unjust. The Gen.G streamer was given a warning over the weekend for violating the Community Guidelines’ rules regarding wardrobe. An email Fareeha received stated that she was wearing “underwear or lingerie” in a VOD on her channel, which Twitch’s Partner Conduct team deleted. “Treat this email as a …
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Overwatch League standings at the end of the regular season
Olivia Richman
The Vancouver Titans and San Francisco Shock are set to face off in the Overwatch League Grand Finals. This likely comes as little surprise to fans of the game. The two teams have placed top four in the playoffs for each stage of season two, with Vancouver coming out on top of Stage 1 and San Francisco winning Stage 2. Not only that, but they also rank as the two …
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Shock’s sinatraa and moth look forward to Grand Finals with Titans
Olivia Richman
The San Francisco Shock took down the New York Excelsior in a 4-0 slugest in the Overwatch League playoffs, snagging a spot in the Grand Finals in Philadelphia. This was an outcome analysts and fans expected, but nobody could have anticipated the complete rampage that Jay “sinatraa” Won went on with Doomfist. Despite not playing on the fourth map, sinatraa boasted 54 final blows and 10 Meteor Strike kills. WIN.gg …
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Shock’s Choihyobin says they can’t make mistakes against NYXL
Olivia Richman
The San Francisco Shock took down the Hangzhou Spark 4-0 in the Overwatch League playoffs. Tomorrow, a match between the Shock and New York Excelsior will decide who faces Vancouver Titans in the Grand Finals. WIN.gg sat down with Hyo-bin “Choihyobin” Choi to discuss his previously harsh view of the Spark, how this match changed his opinion, and his predictions for tomorrow’s match against the NYXL. Earlier, you said that Hangzhou …
Overwatch-themed Nintendo Switch controllers available for pre-order
Fariha Bhatti
News
In anticipation of Overwatch’s upcoming release on the Nintendo Switch, two new themed controllers are available for pre-order. The wireless pro-style controllers are being produced by peripherals manufacturer PowerA, and feature artwork of D.Va and Reaper. PowerA’s controllers will be based on the Wireless Pro Controller line for the Switch, meaning that the controllers will look and feel like their Xbox and Playstation counterparts rather than the Switch’s standard Joy-Con …
San Francisco Shock’s Striker says playing Bastion isn’t fun
Olivia Richman
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The San Francisco Shock easily dominated the Los Angeles Gladiators in the Playoffs. The 4-0 finish have them taking on the Hangzhou Spark tomorrow, who also took down their opponents with a flawless 4-0 sweep. The Shock are expected to come out on top since they’ve taken down the Spark before. But now there’s a whole new comp to deal with. Luckily, Shock DPS player Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon has already mastered …
The US Army esports team impresses with 200IQ Overwatch play
Olivia Richman
News
There’s a spicy Overwatch clip making its rounds online. As the enemy team retreats, one player activates D.Va’s Self Destruct just as his teammate, playing Symmetra, puts a perfectly placed Teleporter right in front of him. This sends D.Va’s exploding mech into the unexpecting enemy’s backline, resulting in a hype quad kill. This wasn’t the Vancouver Titans, or the San Francisco Shock. In fact, it’s not a clip from an …
Hangzhou Spark DPS GodsB talks Bastion, beating Atlanta Reign
Olivia Richman
News
The Hangzhou Spark made quite a statement when they took down the Atlanta Reign 4-0 in the Overwatch League Playoffs. While the team seemed to be working seamlessly together, their DPS player Kyeong-bo “GodsB” Kim immediately stole the show with his game-changing Reaper and Bastion plays. GodsB had 46 final blows as Reaper through those four games, 12 of which came from his perfectly timed Death Blossoms. His overall damage dealt …
Zedd to perform at 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals event
gabhernandez
News
The Overwatch League is looking to redeem itself from last year’s attempt at Grand Finals entertainment by announcing that Anton “Zedd” Zaslavski will be the featured artist this year in Philadelphia. The announcement was teased on Twitter after Overwatch League posted “Oh, baby” with a musical note emoji. Several Overwatch League talent followed that tweet with Zedd lyrics. People wondered if this was a slick way to announce the entertainment …
ryujehong gets emotional after Seoul Dynasty lose in OWL playoffs
gabhernandez
News
The Seoul Dynasty’s Overwatch League playoff run ended at the hands of the Hangzhou Spark, and Jehong “ryujehong” Ryu delivered a heartfelt apology to the team’s fans in an exit interview. In the first match of the loser’s bracket, the Spark and Dynasty ended their series with the Spark claiming a 4-1 victory. For the playoffs, teams had access to the newest patch, which included new hero Sigma. It caused …
Overwatch on Switch to feature motion controls, voice chat
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
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Overwatch is coming to the Nintendo Switch and Blizzard Entertainment has shared new details on what players can expect from the game. According to Blizzard rep Nazih Fares, the Switch version of Overwatch will run at 30 frames per second with up to 720p resolution in handheld mode and 900p when docked. Fares also tweeted that the game will feature voice chat using Blizzard servers, with players only needing to …
Atlanta Reign’s Masaa promises bowl cut for OWL playoff win
William Davis
News
The Atlanta Reign’s Pteja “Masaa” Kantanen has made a pretty big promise to his fans. The Overwatch pro has promised that he’ll get a bowl cut if the Reign make the Grand Finals of the upcoming Overwatch League playoffs. Why is the bowl cut significant? Many of the Overwatch League’s dominant Korean players sport the cut. Some have then joked that it is this haircut that gives the Korean pros …
LA Valiant hold open tryouts after poor OWL Stage 4 results
Olivia Richman
News
The Los Angeles Valiant Overwatch League franchise is holding open auditions. “We feel that everyone deserves a shot at playing on the big stage,” the Valiant tweeted, with a link to where potential players can apply. Along with some basic questions, the Valiant also want to know which role players are applying for. These roles includes main tank, off-tank, main DPS, flex DPS, main support, and flex support. The team …
Nintendo Direct confirms Overwatch arrival on Nintendo Switch
Olivia Richman
News
After months of speculation, Nintendo officially announced Overwatch’s arrival on the Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Direct on September 4 opened with a trailer for Overwatch, which was originally released for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. It showcased a few minutes of in-game action, including Reinhardt charging and Symmetra setting up a teleporter. But the biggest reveal for the Switch’s version of Overwatch is the implementation of motion sensors. The …
London Spitfire’s Quatermain on double barrier meta, longest match
Olivia Richman
News
London Spitfire are off to the Season 2 playoffs after defeating the Shanhai Dragons in an historic eight-game match. The team was able to come out victorious thanks to their mastery of the new double barrier meta. Spitfire’s support main Ji-hoon “Quatermain” Song spoke with WIN.gg about how the new meta has shaken up the support role and how they came out on top of the longest Overwatch League match of …
xQc bashes Overwatch as competitively unplayable, unwatchable
Olivia Richman
News
Twitch streamer Felix “xQc” Lengyel is whipping up controversy yet again. The former Overwatch League player called competitive Overwatch unplayable, unstreamable, and unwatchable. In a recent tweet, xQc blamed the game’s visuals for these woes, calling them “overwhelming.” “The barriers make the stream quality unwatchable. Can we fix this?” he continued. While xQc never gave a reason as to why he felt the game was unplayable, it’s possible he was …
Overwatch has become a mainstay in competitive gaming, though the Blizzard creation hasn’t always had a smooth road to travel. From massive peaks of success to major controversies and dips in popularity, the Overwatch franchise has proved resilient, still playing host to legions of players and fans.
Along the way, the game served as host to one of the most ambitious projects in the growing history of esports, and saw the release of a sequel that changed in form and function multiple times before finally releasing to the public.
What is Overwatch?
Overwatch is a prototypical “hero shooter,” a game that combines first-person shooting gameplay with heroic abilities that are unique to each of the game’s diverse cast of characters. One character might swing a giant hammer and wield a protective shield behind which teammate can take cover, while another might zip around the game’s world with twin guns blazing, warping time and space at will.
That variety of characters and playing styles is a big reason for Overwatch’s success. When no two characters play exactly alike, the sheer variety available in the game becomes a draw. Throw in colorful visuals, dynamic and responsive gameplay, and action-packed battles between teams of opposing players all combining their different abilities together, and you can begin to understand the popularity of Overwatch.
When developers at Blizzard first released Overwatch, there was nothing else quite like it. The closest any major release had come was likely Team Fortress 2, which also featured teams of opposing characters wielding varied abilities in prolonged battles. But Overwatch leaned even further into the unique qualities of its characters, including their presentation. Across PCs and consoles alike, the game proved to be a sensation upon its 2016 release.
What happened to the Overwatch League?
Originally founded in 2017, the Overwatch League was meant to serve as a long-term competitive hub for the game’s professional teams and players prior to its official shutdown in 2024. The league was created with big ambitions in mind, as Blizzard, by then partnered with massive publisher Activision, planned to seed local teams in a variety of cities spread across the world. The idea was to emulate traditional professional sports by rooting pro teams in certain cities and regions in the hopes of cultivating local fan followings.
This was a big change compared what had become the standard in esports, with esports organizations representing themselves to their fans regardless of region. At most, broad regions such as North America or Europe were most often marketed to by individual teams. To hone that in on a specific city was a significant change.
Activision-Blizzard also took the step of making pro Overwatch a closed system; that is, high-level tournaments were broadly restricted outside of official OWL events. While this exclusivity offered theoretical opportunity for the OWL through scarcity, it was also a different approach relevant to the established norm in esports, which traditionally saw smaller grass-roots events feed into a game’s highest levels as tournaments gradually scaled up in prominence and prize offerings.
Demanding tens of millions of dollars from investors who sought to own an OWL team and signing big-money exclusive broadcast deals with streaming platforms, the OWL got itself off to a hot start. But concerns over flagging viewership and overall revenue struggles persisted as the league marched forward. Its intended model proved unsustainable, and the league was eventually shut down.
Do people still play Overwatch?
Despite the fate of OWL, Overwatch remains broadly popular in its current form: Overwatch 2. The game remains under active development at Activision-Blizzard, regularly receiving new in-game events and more unique heroes with special abilities that allow the game to be played in different ways.
The release of Overwatch 2 was itself not without some controversy, as Blizzard’s plans for its contents changed and shifted through the sequel’s development cycle, and the final version of OW2 released as more of a continuation of the original game than a distinctly different sequel. But that continuation still preserved the gameplay and overall experience so many players had come to love about OW. For them, getting more of the same ultimately was not an issue.
