Overwatch 2 Devs Unconcerned About Declining Player Counts

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Bawal Zehri

At Tech4Gamers, I hold the role of a News Reporter, where I merge my passion for gaming with my knack for storytelling. This unique blend allows me to bring you the latest updates, reviews, previews, and features from the gaming world.

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Overwatch 2 had a lot of promise due to the popularity of the first game. However, a series of decisions from Blizzard Entertainment have led to poor reception and outrage for the FPS title.

Nearly a year after its release, Activision’s recent financial report confirmed that Overwatch 2 had begun to see lower player engagement and spending after an impressive start at launch.

While this appears concerning, the developers are not too bothered by this recent trend.

Why it matters: Activision Blizzard’s biggest franchises, like Call of Duty, have continued to see consistent growth and investment over the last year. However, the same cannot be said for Overwatch.

Speaking to IGN, Executive Producer Jared Neuss claimed that much of the declining interest could be attributed to the free-to-play nature of Overwatch 2.

He said:

“We see a normal ebb and flow of players. There’s nothing concerning to me or the team about any of that.”

Previously, the Invasion update was expected to bring players back to the game. However, the Executive Producer claims that the team is under no pressure to deliver a season that brings new levels of player engagement.

Instead, the team focused on delivering a variety of content and ensuring it lives up to the high expectations of Overwatch players.

Overwatch 2 was recently released on Steam. This launch was expected to open the game up to millions of new players, but it backfired massively.

Following its launch, it was bombarded with thousands of negative reviews. Since then, Overwatch 2 has earned the title of Steam’s worst-rated game of all time, with players expressing frustration over Blizzard Entertainment’s broken PVE promises.

This culminated in less than 100K concurrent users for the game on Steam, leading to a disappointing launch. However, given that the Executive Producer is not too concerned about player engagement, this poor launch may not matter much to the studio.

Bawal Zehri

[News Reporter]

Bawal is an MBBS student by day and a gaming journalist by night. He has been gaming since childhood, growing fond of the creativity and innovation of the industry. His career as a gaming journalist started one year ago, and his journey has allowed him to write reviews, previews, and features for various sites. Bawal has also been cited in reputed websites such as Screenrant, PCGamesN, WCCFTech, GamesRadar, and more.