Activision Blizzard Says Overwatch Players Still Average Several Hours Each Day

Activision Blizzard's CEO and president says Overwatch is still going quite strong with players spending an average of two hours a day with the game.

Speaking to MCV, Activision Blizzard's Tim Kilpin was able to boast some impressive stats about Overwatch. Since its release in 2016, the game's amassed quite the following with new heroes, maps, and other content continually rolling out as free updates. All of that has led to millions of active players throughout the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC players, most of which spend quite a bit of time online every day. According to Kilpin's statements, the player commitment is due in no small part to the ongoing free content.

"Because of the way our audience has evolved digitally, and the level of engagement with these franchises, now they'll play the game for hours upon hours upon hours and go back into it for the seasonal content, downloadable content, microtransactions," Kilpin told MCV. "They are living inside that ecosystem for years, and just today Overwatch players are playing an average of two hours a day."

Speaking to the success of another popular series, Call of Duty, Kilpin discussed their strategic plans when it comes to targeting certain players. Call of Duty has "a specific kind of player," according to Kilpin, and they've looked to hone in on Overwatch's demographic as well. Part of that strategy was implemented in the form of the animated storytelling that they've used with Overwatch's short stories, animations that Kilpin said have brought in millions of views. The various mediums also give them a way to introduce new content in a couple of different ways.

"The other thing I'm excited about is that there's more planning going into that process, so there's more thought about how these characters enter the universe," Kilpin continued. "They can enter through gameplay, they can enter through storytelling, they can enter through merchandising. When we bring in the new [Overwatch] Junkertown Map, for example, there's a level of coordination across all these elements that adds up cumulatively to a richer engagement. And that to us is new territory, and that's where we think we can play and compete very effectively with the more traditional types of franchises."

You can see more of Kilpin's thoughts outside of Overwatch in the full MCV interview.