Overwatch: Who Are the Most Popular Heroes?

Stats from the website Master Overwatch reveal the most popular heroes in Overwatch, as well as the least popular characters for Blizzard’s first-person shooter game.

Blizzard took a gamble when it decided to create a new IP instead of working on another entry in one of its many tried and true franchises, but it seems as though Overwatch has paid off. Overwatch has amassed a large fan base, with 15 million players at last count, and has proven popular enough to justify the continued development of new content for the game nearly six months after its release. Some may be wondering who these millions of players have been playing as, but they will wonder no more, as data collected from the site Master Overwatch has revealed the game’s most popular heroes.

According to the statistics on Master Overwatch, the most popular hero in the game is the support character Lucio. Lucio is followed in popularity by Soldier 76, fellow support healer Mercy, Pharah, and Genji. So, two support characters make up the top five, while the other three are offense, which seems to be line with Play of the Game stats that Blizzard itself shared not too long ago.

Some may be surprised to learn that two support heroes are in the top five, but it makes sense. The game will remind players if they lack a hero or other support class on their team, and since there are fewer support heroes to choose from than any other class in the game, it’s not surprising that the two most popular are picked for the bulk of Overwatch matches.

The other three support heroes actually make up the least popular characters, joined by offense hero Bastion and tank hero Winston. Blizzard is aware that characters like Zenyatta, sniper healer Ana, and Symmetra aren’t being used often by players, and the studio hopes to rectify that with future updates. In fact, there’s already been talk of buffing Symmetra to convince players to choose her more often in online matches. One has to imagine that similar updates could be on the way for Zenyatta and Ana as well.

Ana is actually the least-used Overwatch hero, according to the stats. However, it’s worth noting that she was added to the game a couple of months after launch, which could explain her low usage rate. It’s also possible that some former Overwatch enthusiasts are moving on to other games, and Ana may not have been around when they were playing regularly. Considering this, it’s possible that the upcoming DLC character Sombra will suffer a similar fate, and may be labeled an unpopular hero as a result.

With the game receiving frequent updates, it’s clear that Blizzard’s goal is to make Overwatch as balanced as possible. This includes nerfing and buffing characters to encourage their use in-game, so it’s possible that many of the least popular characters will be buffed in the coming months, whereas some of the more popular ones will get nerfed. Fans should pay close attention to Blizzard’s Overwatch updates in the future to make sure there haven’t been any major changes to their hero of choice.

Overwatch is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: Master Overwatch