What you need to know
- Overwatch 2 has hit 25 million players in 10 days following the game's October 4 launch.
- The success comes despite the game's rocky launch period, in which players have experienced a wide variety of bugs and the game's servers have been relatively unstable.
- Overwatch 2 revamped the Overwatch experience with a shift to 5v5, a new Battle Pass model, the introduction of seasonal content releases, new maps, a new mode, and more.
Overwatch 2 developer Blizzard Entertainment has announced that in the 10 days following the game's launch, it has hit 25 million players. That's an incredible number, and it signals that the revamped hero shooter is poised to succeed moving forward. Originally released on October 4, Overwatch 2 breathed new life into the first game with a move to a 5v5 PvP format, a new Battle Pass-based progression system, the introduction of a seasonal content model, three new heroes, and more.
This feat has been achieved despite Overwatch 2's launch being extremely rocky, as players have experienced widespread bugs and launch issues ever since release day. Blizzard also said that the game's servers were besieged by mass DDoS attacks, resulting in frequent problems that prevented people from logging into the game or playing matches without being disconnected.
Ultimately, the success of Overwatch 2 thus far suggests that the changes the sequel made to Overwatch were for the best. Previously, Overwatch struggled to remain relevant in the competitive shooter space beyond 2018-19, as many of its players lost interest when the game became too focused on crowd control stuns and beefy tanking abilities. Overwatch 2's gameplay is much faster and more active by comparison.
With that said, the game also isn't without its fair share of controversies. Many players have expressed concerns about the prices of skins in Overwatch 2's microtransactions shop, and people aren't happy with the paltry number of Overwatch Coins you can get for free each week by completing gameplay challenges, either. Overwatch 2's phone number requirement also makes it more difficult for low-income individuals to try it out, as Blizzard isn't accepting most numbers from prepaid phone providers.
Even with its issues, though, I believe Overwatch 2 is moving things in the right direction. In my review, I said it "represents the arrival of the foundational changes Blizzard's hero shooter needed in order to return to its former glory." While it's too early to say whether or not the game will actually retain all of the players currently checking it out in the long-term — Halo Infinite had 20 million players a while after launch, and everyone knows how that turned out — it's clear Blizzard has a huge opportunity to thrust Overwatch back to the top of the industry as long as it plays its cards right.
Overwatch 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch. It's arguably one of the best Xbox shooters available, and since it's free-to-play, it doesn't cost anything to check it out. Alternatively, players can purchase the Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack that provides access to Season 1's Premium Battle Pass, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and a bundle of unique Legendary skins.
