Overwatch
Overwatch
Overwatch 2 players consider boycotting PvE content
Olivia Richman
Overwatch 2 players are hoping to punish Blizzard by boycotting the upcoming story missions content. Blizzard revealed more information about its upcoming season, Invasion, during an Xbox Games Showcase. Come August, Overwatch players will be able to experience a new hero, a new competitive game mode, and some PvE content in the form of three-story missions. Unlike previous seasons, players will have to pay to experience Invasion in full. That’s …
Overwatch
Overwatch 2 player engagement is declining, Blizzard admits
Olivia Richman
Activision Blizzard has made it no secret that the Overwatch League is in financial trouble, and now they have admitted that player engagement has been down in Overwatch 2. Previously, Blizzard claimed that the Overwatch League may be salvable if they could focus more on content in their core games, but it looks like that plan may not be viable. As the OWL continues to decline rapidly, it looks like …
Overwatch
Who is the next tank hero in Overwatch 2?
Olivia Richman
Overwatch 2 developers are teasing the next tank hero. Blizzard announced an exciting Overwatch 2 road map that shows a new hero coming every other season. The next hero is a support in Season 6, known as Invasion. While this highly anticipated season hasn’t even started yet, developers are already teasing what’s to come in Season 8. During an interview, executive producer Jared Neuss talked about the next tank coming …
Overwatch
Overwatch 2 confirms information about new hero
William Davis
The new hero for Overwatch 2 is on the way. The game already shared a teaser about the new hero and confirmed that some fan theories might just be true. Overwatch 2 will introduce a new hero in the upcoming season titled Overwatch 2: Invasion. During the announcement, the development team shared a glimpse of the new hero. It was just a silhouette, but it was more than enough to …
Overwatch
Overwatch 2 community demands Kiriko bug be fixed
Olivia Richman
Despite being one of the newest heroes in Overwatch 2, you may have noticed a lack of people playing Kiriko as of late. That’s due to an ongoing bug that Blizzard still hasn’t addressed. Overwatch 2 has an abundance of heroes on its roster and is looking to continue increasing the amount of support heroes in upcoming seasons. But Overwatch players are demanding that developers fix existing hero Kiriko first. …
Overwatch
Overwatch 2 introduces new hero progression system
Olivia Richman
PvE may be no longer, but that hasn’t stopped Overwatch 2 developers from revealing an abundance of new content in upcoming seasons. Most recently, it was announced that Season 6 would be getting a hero progression system. During a livestream to go over more details on the upcoming Overwatch 2: Invasion season, game director Aaron Keller went over the hero progression system and how it will work and reward players. …
Overwatch
How to watch the Overwatch 2: Invasion showcase — date, time
Olivia Richman
Overwatch 2: Invasion is going to be the game’s biggest update to date, so it’s no surprise that fans are getting quite hyped over what’s to come. Blizzard is planning a livestream to cover all the content that’s coming later this summer. Overwatch 2: Invasion is a massive update that’s looking to add a lot of new content. This includes a scaled version of PvE mode after developers announced that …
Overwatch
Overwatch 2 Season 5 reworks include Lifeweaver, Cassidy, more
Olivia Richman
The Overwatch 2 Season 5 patch notes are now live, and there are plenty of big changes to heroes and gameplay. While Season 5 is introducing new limited-time game modes and skins, there is plenty to uncover in the patch notes as well. Some of the big changes include the return of On Fire, a fun feature that is activated on a gamer’s logo when they are on a kill …
Overwatch 2 fans notice a cop car removed from map for Pride Month
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
Amongst all of the Pride-themed additions to Overwatch 2, players noticed that a police car was removed from the Midtown map. The Midtown map is inspired by New York City, meaning you’ll find a lot of cars, taxis, and other forms of public transportation. One of those vehicles is a police car, meant to represent the crazy crime and hectic life of the city that never sleeps. But the New …
Pharah confirmed lesbian in latest Overwatch 2 short story
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
Blizzard has released a short story called “As You Are” that highlights Baptiste and Pharah, including struggles with their past as well as their identity. In the seven-page short story, which also features beautiful artwork, Baptiste looks back on his time with Talon with shame, feeling a lot of pressure after Cassidey gave him a chance to prove himself on Overwatch. He opened up about his concerns with Pharah, wishing …
Overwatch 2 devs accused of lying about PvE mode
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
A popular Overwatch content creator known as Your Overwatch has accused Blizzard of gaslighting players into believing PvE is still coming. The Overwatch 2 player base was crushed when developers announced that the PvE mode that was promised was no longer happening, with the team wanting to focus on the live game instead. The Hero Missions that were promised back in 2019 at BlizzCon would include unique storylines and skill …
BlizzCon 2023 finally gets official date after four year hiatus
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
BlizzCon is officially returning this year and it has a date. BlizzCon has become one of the biggest gaming conventions in the United States, a place where community events, cosplay, video game announcements, and tournaments come together at the Anaheim Convention Center. But in-person BlizzCon was canceled the past four years. But it’s finally returning to its original in-person format. BlizzCon is returning to Anaheim on November 3-4, 2023. “Our …
Blizzard reveals exciting road-map after cancelling Overwatch 2 PvE mode
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
You probably already predicted this months ago, but Overwatch 2 is no longer getting the long-awaited PvE mode players were promised. When Overwatch 2 was first announced, the playerbase was confused why an entirely new game was needed. Why not update the existing one? But developers explained that too much was being added and changed to justify a game update, including PvE mode. A presentation at BlizzCon 2019 showed off …
Why was Sigma disabled in Overwatch 2?
William Davis
Overwatch
On May 10, Overwatch 2 players were surprised to find that Sigma was disabled in the competitive modes. Why was Sigma disabled in OW2? It all started on May 9 with the release of the mid-season patch, just in time for the 2023 Competitive Deathmatch season. As one of the biggest patches in the year, it included changes to maps, heroes, and general system updates. The updates caused a game-breaking …
Overwatch 2 players demand Pink Mercy skin on 5th anniversary
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
Another year, another plea for the return of Pink Mercy. There is no doubt that one of the most popular Overwatch 2 skins of all time is Pink Mercy. The skin is from a fundraiser in 2018 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Enough Pink Mercy skins were purchased to raise $12.7 million. Since then, the Pink Mercy skin has not been available. Overwatch 2 players have begged Blizzard to …
Lifeweaver hitbox issue still persists after buffs and control change
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
New support hero Lifeweaver received a huge buff today, with Blizzard giving the Overwatch 2 hero more accurate healing capabilities and more impactful abilities. But players have noticed that nothing was done to his hitbox, one of the biggest sources of frustration. Ever since Lifeweaver bloomed onto the scene, players noticed that his hitbox was quite large, making him easy to hit. This is a huge concern for a support …
Overwatch 2 finally adds coordinated dance emotes
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
It’s the moment every Overwatch 2 player has waited for. No, not Jetpack Cat. And no, not a balanced roster. It’s the arrival of coordinated dance emotes! Blizzard recently teased some Season 4 cosmetics that had the player base anxiously anticipating the new season’s arrival. But it’s not the Legendary skins that have players pumped this time around. It’s the first-ever coordinated dance emotes, which belong to Roadhog and Junkrat. …
Sigma Mythic Skin revealed for Overwatch 2
Nicholas James
Overwatch
The Sigma Mythic skin coming to Overwatch 2 was revealed recently, and it’s a great-looking addition as the game’s fourth Mythic Skin. The skin was revealed as a part of the Overwatch 2 Season 4 Battle Pass, which includes several skins for a variety of heroes. The new highest-rarity skin for Sigma was the headliner for many fans. Galactic Emperor Sigma adorns the Overwatch hero in golden epaulets and a …
Overwatch 2 trolls want to mess with Lifeweaver already
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
Many Overwatch 2 players are predicting that Lifeweaver will shake up the game when the pansexual support hero arrives in Season 4. But it may not be in the way that developers intended, leading to some safeguards the team had to put in place. Lifeweaver has a very unique toolkit that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before in Overwatch 2. He uses advanced nature-inspired technology to create platforms and gravity-defying orbs …
Lifeweaver is the next Overwatch 2 support hero
Olivia Richman
Overwatch
Blizzard has announced Lifeweaver, the next hero coming to Overwatch 2. Lifeweaver is a hero coming to Overwatch 2’s roster in Season 4. As laid out in the developers’ timeline, Lifeweaver is a support hero that is looking to fit into the new and more aggressive meta. The 37th hero looks to be nature-inspired, complete with a lotus flower design and petals on his back. Lifeweaver’s abilities are not confirmed …
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.
