Overwatch’s “Relaunch” Is Exactly What the Blizzard Shooter Needed

Launching in 2016, Overwatch was a quick success for Blizzard and an early example of how dominant the hero shooter genre was about to become. A decade later, though, the game was struggling against enduring franchises like Battlefield and new competitors like Marvel Rivals. Especially after the disastrous launch of Overwatch 2, the concurrent player count was growing too small to see much of a future where the game was a dominant force.

That’s why Blizzard decided to rebrand the game, effectively relaunching the origianl Overwatchand introducing a lot of new tweaks, characters, and maps. The abrupt shift has been popular with gamers, who have helped pull Overwatch back into the higher rankings among digital platforms like Steam. Considering just how bleak things seemed for the game just last year, this relaunch is proving to be exactly what Blizzard needed to make Overwatch a hit again.

How Overwatch Has Rebranded Itself

Overwatch has been experiencing a massive resurgence, which highlights just how effective Blizzard’s refresh of the game has been. Having originally launched in 2016 to strong reviews and a solid player base, Overwatch helped lay much of the groundwork that hero shooters like Marvel Rivals and Highguard have embraced in recent years. However, by the time the rebranded Overwarch 2 released an early access version onto the market in 2022, the game began to suffer in the eyes of players. With other hero shooters drawing player attention elsewhere, Overwhatch 2 struggled to maintain its grip on the online space. However, after years of shedding players, the rebrand of the game back to simply Overwatch has been met with a lot of positivity. The year-long “Reign of Talon” event has introduced a host of new characters and laid the groundwork for a more compelling narrative. It’s all rooted in appealing to older fans who left and attracting new players.

Overwatch 2‘s experimental approach to gameplay modes has given gamers logging into the new version of the game a lot more variety than the original game ever did. Even before the new season started on February 10, the news was so well-received that the game shot up the Steam charts — and has even accrued more concurrent players than Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty. Especially considering that Steam only accounts for some of Overwatch‘s players — many of whom play through Battle.net or on consoles — it speaks to the influx of players coming back to Overwatch for the new season. If nothing else, it’s brought eyes back onto the game and ensured that players are willing to take another swing at the experience. It’s all about making Overwatch a genuine competitor in a very different online envrioment than when it first launched, and it’s seemingly been a success.

Overwatch’s Refresh Is Restoring The Game To Its Former Glory

When Overwatch launched, it was an immediate hit for Blizzard. However, stiff competition, disappointment among players, and developer scandals have impacted the game on a cultural level. The game was bleeding players, especially as other hero shooters like Marvel Rivals rose in prominence. To save Overwatch, Blizzard was going to need to do something. Luckily, their fresh approach to the game has given players renewed interest in the action. Blizzard has also been up front about their intentions to cement Overwatch as a “forever game,” with potentially limitless new characters, modes, and story directions. As a tenth anniversary celebration of the game, it’s a promising development in general. More broadly, though, it might be the only way that Overwatch was going to survive into new generations of gamers.

Developers at Blizzard, including director Aaron Keller, have acknowledged in interviews that the game struggled in the aftermath of Overwatch 2‘s disappointing turns. Keller told PCGamesn that focusing on numbered sequels “created a mental framework which locked people into the idea that dropping a big sequel was the only way to truly elevate our game.” This put additional pressure on those prospective sequels, and Overwatch 2 highlighted how poorly it could go for the game. Instead, by refocusing the game and reorienting it as a perpetual title in the vein of something like Fortnite, Overwatch has set itself to become a perpetually evolving title.

In the current gaming envrioment, that might be the only way for Overwatch to keep up with other games like Marvel Rivals. Instead of forcing players to adopt new games, bringing fresh elements to a current favorite could keep it alive for much longer. Introducing new characters, expanding the world, and leaning into the different gameplay styles is a way for Overwatch to continue to distinguish itself from the competition, something that genuinelly seemed to rekindle interest in the game — well, that and the new playable cat character. Overwatch‘s efforts have already paid off for Blizzard, but now it’s on the developer to maintain that support if it really wants to cement Overwatch as a forever game.