The Overwatch Comeback Needs to Be Studied

When one thinks of hero shooters, Overwatch is usually the first game that comes to mind, even if it wasn’t the origin of the term. In fact, Gearbox’s Battleborn was the first to call itself a hero shooter, and games like Team Fortress 2 and League of Legends heavily influenced the genre. Even so, Overwatch defined the subgenre and wrote the book on what made a successful hero shooter.

That said, the tale of Overwatch is not one of success alone. Indeed, the tumultuous history of Blizzard’s hero shooter has been one of extreme highs and lows. Overwatch’s victories, failures, and dramatic comeback are a topic that should be studied by historians and game developers alike.

The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Overwatch

A Tumultuous History With a Promising Future

Overwatch came out on May 24, 2016. Beyond that, four major post-release eras defined Overwatch’s history: the announcement of Overwatch 2, its subsequent launch, the arrival of Marvel Rivals, and its soft relaunch this year.

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2016: The Golden Era of Overwatch

Image via Blizzard

After World of Warcraft took the world by storm in 2004, it became the MMO to beat. This prompted countless competitors to create “WoW Killers,” none of which were successful. Either way, this phenomenon spurred Blizzard to design its own WoW Killer: Project Titan, a new MMO set in a futuristic version of Earth. Unfortunately, the ambitious Project Titan failed and was canceled in 2013 with over $80 million spent on development.

From the ashes of Project Titan came Overwatch. For the first time in over a decade, Blizzard created a brand-new IP and entered a brand-new genre, having previously produced only RTS and RPGs. Luckily, the risk paid off; Overwatch became wildly successful, landing Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2016 and becoming the quintessential hero shooter to which all others would aspire.

Image via Blizzard

2017 and 2018 continued to be huge for Blizzard’s hero shooter, with the formation of a robust esports community via Overwatch League, regular hero additions, and even a foray into PvE in the form of Overwatch Archives. Between high ratings and memorable, infamous metas, these years were some of Overwatch’s best.

2019: Big Promises and Dark Secrets

Then came BlizzCon 2019, during which Blizzard revealed Overwatch 2. The sequel to the iconic hero shooter was promised to include a graphics revamp, robust PvE system, and a shift to 5v5, rather than 6v6. What’s more, Overwatch 2 would switch to a free-to-play model, as most other multiplayer games had. Overwatch 2 made some big promises, and the future looked bright.

Image via Blizzard

Unfortunately, that was far from the case. Resources were reallocated to the development of Overwatch 2, meaning the still-active Overwatch 1 game began to be neglected. Though Blizzard previously released at least three heroes a year, with no more than four months between them, there were only two in 2019, one in 2020, and none for all of 2021. What’s more, there were eight months between Sigma and Echo, the final two heroes before Overwatch 2, with more than two years of no substantial updates after that. This content drought killed a lot of the hype for the impending sequel.

Image via Blizzard

However, things were even worse behind closed doors. During a recent interview with Lex Fridman, former Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan revealed the truth behind the events that led to his departure from the company in 2021. From its inception, the idea of Overwatch 2 was pushed by Activision Blizzard executives to get more money. Flagging popularity and pressure from the Overwatch League were bad enough, but the nail in the coffin was when the CFO told Kaplan he had to make a certain amount of revenue by a deadline or 1,000 employees would be laid off. In many ways, Overwatch 2 was doomed from the start.

2022: The Dark Age of Overwatch 2

The PvP aspect of Overwatch 2 finally launched in early access in October 2022. The sequel saw success, but issues with monetization, controversies surrounding reworks for heroes like Doomfist and Bastion, and the removal of 6v6 marred its launch. That said, the drawbacks were largely counterbalanced by the anticipation for PvE content, which was expected in 2023 with the full release.

Regrettably, those expectations were crushed in August 2023 with the launch of Season 6: Invasion. This release heralded the drastic downscaling of PvE plans for Overwatch 2; almost all of it was being scrapped, save for a series of story missions dropping alongside the season. While the missions themselves were fun, they had little to no replayability. Blizzard deemed them a failure, and no more story missions have been released since.

Season 6 was also the platform debut of Overwatch 2 on Steam. Unfortunately for Blizzard, the rampant dissatisfaction with the hero shooter led fans to review bomb Overwatch 2 until it became the worst-rated game on Steam.

2025: Pressure from Marvel Rivals Lights a Fire Under Overwatch

Then, in December 2024, NetEase released Marvel Rivals. This hero shooter introduced some exciting mechanics to the genre, including destructible terrain, team-ups, and a third-person viewpoint. The game was released to critical acclaim, stealing thunder from Overwatch 2 and rapidly surpassing it in both reviews and player counts on all platforms.

Image via NetEase

Blizzard needed to act fast, and luckily, it was already working on some major changes itself. The Overwatch 2 Showcase in February 2025 revealed some big swings, including Perks, the Stadium game mode, the return of 6v6, map voting, and hero bans. 2025 was a huge success for Overwatch 2, and while Marvel Rivals was still beating it in most fields, Blizzard’s hero shooter was finally standing on its own two feet again.

2026: A New Era for Overwatch

But in truth, Overwatch 2 walked in 2025 so that Overwatch could run in 2026. During the Overwatch Spotlight in 2026, Blizzard revealed some wild changes to the game that arrived on February 10, least of all that it was dropping the 2 from Overwatch 2:

• Year-long storylines, with Reign of Talon being the one for 2026
• Ten new heroes in 2026, five of which dropped in Season 1
  • Domina
  • Anran
  • Emre
  • Mizuki
  • Jetpack Cat
• Sub-Role passives for every role:
  • Tank
    • Bruiser
    • Initiator
    • Stalwart
  • Damage
    • Flanker
    • Recon
    • Sharpshooter
    • Specialist
  • Support

• In-game meta events, such as Conquest in Season 1
• New menus and user interface
• Praise voice lines for every hero
• Map and hero reworks throughout the year
• Post-match accolades in Season 2

Image via Blizzard

Needless to say, the soft relaunch has been a major hit. Overwatch exploded on Steam and Twitch, quickly surpassing historic simultaneous player counts on every platform. These changes were so well-received that Overwatch became the sixth most played PC game in February, and its recent ratings on Steam have crawled back up to “Mixed,” though its overall reviews are still “Mostly Negative.”

Rarely can a game claw its way back up from the bottom like Overwatch has, but now that it is on the rise, the hero shooter needs to follow through and keep this momentum going. If it does, Overwatch will most certainly end up in the gaming comebacks hall of fame next to the likes of Final Fantasy 14, No Man’s Sky, and Cyberpunk 2077.

Released

August 10, 2023

ESRB

Teen / Violence, Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)