Overwatch
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Overwatch Summer Games 2019 adds weekly challenge mode, 7 new skins
Fariha Bhatti
The Overwatch Summer Games are here ahead of schedule. The latest seasonal event is now live on all platforms. Though the event includes the return of arcade game mode Lucioball and adds seven new skins, the highlight is the introduction of a new weekly reward system. This year includes fewer unlockable skins than usual, adding only four new legendary tier skins. In past years, there have been at least six …
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Overwatch Hero 31 is coming soon and theories abound as to who it is
Fariha Bhatti
Hero 31 has recently been confirmed by Overwatch developer Jeff Kaplan in the most recent Developer Update. The video offered very little specific information about the new hero despite the announcement coming a month late in comparison to previous years. Ana, Doomfist, and Wrecking Ball had all been fully revealed by the month of July, so fans are eager to learn more about the mysterious, and now late, new hero. …
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Shanghai Dragons win Overwatch League Stage 3 playoffs, beating Shock
Olivia Richman
The Shanghai Dragons are the Overwatch League Stage 3 champions. After an intense seven-game match, the Dragons defeated the San Francisco Shock 4-3. Along with the $200,000, the Dragons have earned their first stage championship. “Started from the bottom, now we’re here! After a wild seven maps, we come out the Stage 3 champs! We couldn’t have made it this far without your love – so here’s to you!” the …
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Overwatch Workshop map teaches players how to counter Sombra
M Alzamora
The Overwatch development team doesn’t seem to be worried about how powerful Sombra is, so players are taking matters into their own hands. A Reddit user created a custom Overwatch Workshop stage designed for the sole purpose of dealing with Sombra’s EMP ability. The map is a simple square that lets a Sombra bot sneak up on the player from random directions to pop her ultimate and attempt to do …
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Overwatch bug unfairly punishes players for leaving uneven games
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Although Overwatch players are allowed to leave a match early if a team member has disconnected, some players are getting punished unfairly for the action due to a bug. Competitive Overwatch games have a penalty set in place meant to discourage players from leaving a game before it’s finished. Once a player does leave, the rest of the team’s members should be allowed to leave within the next two minutes …
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Pete Vlastelica is the new Overwatch League commissioner
M Alzamora
Activision Blizzard has named Pete Vlastelica its new commissioner for the Overwatch League. The appointment runs parallel to a similar move in the Call of Duty esports arena that sees Johanna Faries heading up that unit. The sudden departure of Nate Nanzer in May necessitated the move. Nanzer, who was the inaugural commissioner for Overwatch League, will have his hands full at Epic Games where he now works on the …
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Summer Games and new hero discussed in new Overwatch developer update
Fariha Bhatti
Blizzard has confirmed the next set of upcoming events in its latest developer update. Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan confirmed today on YouTube that the Summer Games will be the next seasonal event to take place and added some further details as to what players can expect from the event. One of the first items Kaplan addressed in the video was the update in the schedule for the summer event. …
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Mangachu and Dafran face off on Torbjorn at Homestand Weekend
Olivia Richman
Even though the Toronto Defiant didn’t play in the Atlanta Homestand Weekend, newly signed Liam “Mangachu” Campbell expressed his excitement over the weekend’s festivities. That’s because the notorious Torbjorn main would be facing Atlanta Reign’s ex-DPS master Daniel “Dafran” Francesca in a Torbjorn 1v1. The Torbjorn Hammer 1v1 had the two Torb enthusiasts facing off to see who was the best hammer-weilding Scandinavian. While Torbjorn’s Overload ability was still available, rules stated …
Walking Zenyatta in the Workshop is the stuff of nightmares
Olivia Richman
News
Who remembers when Overwatch finally let Zenyatta walk? Even though many fans have regretted asking for a walking Zenyatta since witnessing such horrors, prolific Workshop creator DarwinStreams has created another walking Zenyatta. And this walking nightmare has become proof as to why Zenyatta should continue floating instead. Here’s a tranquil, floating Zenyatta. Notice the peace sign and overall serenity of this image: And here is Darwin’s creation: While DarwinStream’s Zenyatta …
Overwatch quietly adds new protection for matchmaking with cheaters
Fariha Bhatti
News
Overwatch players have noticed that a new anti-cheat system is in place on live servers. The update comes as a surprise to many, though it seems to have been included in a patch made at the end of June. Multiple players have taken to social media in recent days to share their discovery found within Overwatch. After being a part of a match that had suddenly ended for reasons they …
Toronto Defiant Mangachu talks about being a Torbjorn main in the OWL
Olivia Richman
News
Toronto Defiant hasn’t been having good results in Week 4. First they lost to the Los Angeles Gladiators. Then they fell to the Houston Outlaws. But that didn’t stop Liam “Mangachu” Campbell from having a good time. The recently signed DPS star has finally reached his goal of being in the Overwatch League, and a few bad games won’t get him down. Hailing from Oakville, Ontario, just from Toronto, Mangachu is …
Sinatraa says San Francisco Shock will face NYXL in Stage 3 finals
Olivia Richman
News
San Francisco Shock’s Jay “sinatraa” Won is not surprised that his team just 4-0’d London Spitfire. In fact, he admits he’s a bit cocky about it. He goes into every match believing his team will win. With the victory over Spitfire, the Stage 1 winners have secured a spot in the Overwatch League’s Stage 3 playoffs. But this time sinatraa doesn’t think they’ll be playing the Vancouver Titans in the finals, as …
Vancouver Titans SeoMinSoo talks Stage 3 playoffs and 2-2-2 lock
Olivia Richman
News
The Vancouver Titans defeated the Los Angeles Gladiators 4-0, securing a spot in the Stage 3 playoffs. The Canadian Overwatch League team finished up Stage 3 with an impressive 5-1 record. Their only loss this stage was to the Los Angeles Valiant last week. But since that match, the Titans have pushed themselves even harder. WIN.gg spoke with Titans DPS expert Min-soo “SeoMinSoo” Seo about the team’s easy victory over …
Toronto Defiant sign Mangachu and Logix, become a mixed roster
Olivia Richman
News
The Toronto Defiant will be sporting a mixed roster come Stage 4 of the Overwatch League. The 18th-place team announced the signing of Liam “Mangachu” Campbell, with the veteran joining as the new flex DPS. “Joining the Overwatch League has kind of been a dream of mine for a very long time. I think representing one of my local cities, Toronto…Everything is perfect for me,” Mangachu said. Since Overwatch’s competitive scene began …
xQc gains more views by sleeping for nine hours on live stream
Olivia Richman
News
Twitch personality Felix “xQc” Lengyel recently made headlines, and it wasn’t for being a troll or raging at Fortnite. No, the former Overwatch League pro was in the news for sleeping. xQc spent nine hours during a 35-hour stream fast asleep. While he slept, xQc had YouTube videos autoplaying for his viewers. And yes, there were viewers. In fact, his average viewers during his time sleeping on stream was about …
OverFighter becomes most popular mode in Overwatch workshop
Olivia Richman
News
Overwatch fans have seen their favorite heroes play card games, race through maps, and even compete in a Smash Bros styled brawl. Now there’s a new popular workshop game mode called OverFighter. Similar to Tekken or Pokken Tournament, OverFighter is a fighting game set on a three-dimensional arena. The one-on-one battles are a best-of-three that have select fighters duking it out like an old-school arcade game. Players can even do …
Reigning OWL MVP JJoNaK gets special Zenyatta skin in his honor
William Davis
News
New York Excelsior support Bang “JJoNak” Seong-hyun has received a legendary Overwatch skin. Overwatch is rewarding the inaugural Overwatch League season’s MVP with a skin for his signature hero, Zenyatta. Arnold Tsang, assistant art director for Overwatch, and Marisa Palumbo, senior producer for Overwatch Esports, were in charge of working on the project with JJoNak. The team took into consideration JJoNak’s fashion sense, personal preferences, and his love for octopus. …
Fissure seemingly confirms 2-2-2 role lock coming to Overwatch League
gabhernandez
News
Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek, formerly of the Seoul Dynasty, has seemingly confirmed rumors that a 2/2/2 role lock is coming to Overwatch League. On his stream, Fissure said, “I’m retired now so I’ll say it. Next stage, four, 2-2-2 lock is confirmed.” The Seoul Dynasty recently revealed that they had mutually agreed to let Fissure out of his contract. The former main tank then took the opportunity during one of his …
Fissure announces surprise retirement from professional Overwatch
gabhernandez
News
Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek is retiring from Overwatch, the Seoul Dynasty has revealed. Fissure’s surprise retirement comes in the middle of Stage 3 and shortly after a written statement about taking a break to figure out how to move forward in his Overwatch career. His options were to take a break and come back in Stage 4, or retire from the game altogether. His statement mentioned burnout and losing his passion …
MonteCristo makes an argument for adding role locks to Overwatch
Nina Forneloza
News
Is a role lock for Overwatch inevitable? One of Overwatch’s most prominent personalities seems to think so. In a recent talk show episode, Overwatch commentator Christoper “MonteCristo” Mykles explained why he feels a role lock will inevitably be introduced into competitive Overwatch and the Overwatch League. Such a role lock would mean teams could not pick more than two heroes of each of the game’s hero classes: tank, support and …
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.
