Overwatch Reaches 20 Million Players
By Dalton Cooper 12 October 2016
Blizzard releases an impressive new statistic for Overwatch, revealing that the popular hero-based shooter has reached over 20 million registered players.
There’s a reason why many gaming companies choose to release sequel after sequel instead of new IP. Established franchises simply stand a better chance of being successful, whereas a new IP is always a financial gamble. However, sometimes pursuing a new IP pays off in a big way, as is the case with the popular shooter Overwatch from Blizzard. Blizzard hasn’t revealed exact sales figures for the game, but we now know that it has surpassed 20 million registered players.
What’s especially impressive about that number is that Overwatch hasn’t even been out for six months yet. The game launched last May, topped the sales charts in June, and has continued to appear on the top 10 selling games each month since then. Overwatch is proving to have decent legs sales-wise, so it’s no surprise to see its number of registered players continue to rise at a steady rate.
As previously stated, Blizzard hasn’t shared any specific sales figures for Overwatch just yet, so it’s not clear exactly how many copies Overwatch has sold to equate to 20 million registered users. We also don’t know how many fans are still actively playing the game, but with its frequent updates, Overwatch may stand a better chance of retaining players than similar titles.
To date, Blizzard has ran two season-specific events for Overwatch, with one dedicated to the Rio Olympic Games this past summer, and a Halloween-themed event that kicked off yesterday. These events come complete with new skins and other cosmetic items for players to unlock, and in the case of the Halloween Terror Event, even a new game mode to try. Assuming Blizzard continues to run these special events and updates the game on a consistent basis, then it stands to reason that there are many Overwatch fans that will stick with it for the foreseeable future.
Another way Blizzard has convinced Overwatch players to stay loyal to the game is by releasing new characters and maps. So far, there’s been one new character added to the game, and one new map, a castle town called Eichenwalde. However, Blizzard reportedly has six new maps in development, and at least two more characters in the pipeline, with one being the elusive Sombra that has been teased for months.
Since Overwatch is an online-only game, Blizzard not only needs to continue increasing the number of registered users, but also provide enough content to convince fans to stick with it for the long run. As long as Blizzard continues providing content on a regular basis, Overwatch‘s popularity should continue growing well beyond 20 million registered users.
Overwatch is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: IGN
