Overwatch (video game)

Overwatch
Cover art featuring Tracer, one of the game's playable characters
Developer(s) Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s) Blizzard Entertainment
Director(s)
Designer(s)
  • Jeremy Craig
  • Michael Elliott
  • Scott Mercer
Programmer(s)
  • Mike Elliott
  • John LeFleur
Artist(s)
  • William Petras
  • Arnold Tsang
Writer(s)
Composer(s) Derek Duke
Platform(s)
Release May 24, 2016
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Overwatch is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, which released on May 24, 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. Described as a "hero shooter", Overwatch assigns players into two teams of six, with each player selecting from a roster of over 20 characters, known as "heroes", each with a unique style of play whose roles are divided into three general categories that fit their role. Players on a team work together to secure and defend control points on a map or escort a payload across the map in a limited amount of time. Players gain cosmetic rewards that do not affect gameplay, such as character skins and victory poses, as they play the game. The game was initially launched with casual play, with a competitive ranked mode, various 'arcade' game modes, and a player-customizable server browser subsequently included following its release. Additionally, Blizzard has developed and added new characters, maps, and game modes post-release, while stating that all Overwatch updates will remain free, with the only additional cost to players being microtransactions to earn additional cosmetic rewards.

Overwatch is Blizzard's fourth major franchise and came about following the 2014 cancellation of the ambitious massively multiplayer online role-playing game Titan. A portion of the Titan team came up with the concept of Overwatch, based on the success of team-based first-person shooters like Team Fortress 2 and the growing popularity of multiplayer online battle arenas, creating a hero-based shooter that emphasized teamwork. Some elements of Overwatch borrow assets and concepts from the canceled Titan project. After establishing the narrative of an optimistic near-future Earth setting after a global crisis, the developers aimed to create a diverse cast of heroes that spanned genders and ethnicities as part of this setting. Significant time is spent adjusting the balance of the characters, making sure that new players would still be able to have fun while skilled players would present each other with a challenge.

Overwatch was unveiled at BlizzCon 2014 in a fully playable state and was in a closed beta from late 2015 through early 2016. An open beta in May 2016 drew in nearly 10 million players. The release of the game was promoted with short animated videos to introduce the game's narrative and each of the characters. Upon official release, Overwatch received universal acclaim from critics, who praised the game for its accessibility, diverse appeal of its hero characters, bright cartoonish art style, and enjoyable gameplay. Blizzard reported over US$1 billion in revenue during the first year of its release, and had more than 40 million players after two years. Overwatch is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, receiving numerous game of the year awards, alongside other accolades. The game has also become recognized as an eSport, with Blizzard themselves helping to fund and produce professional leagues, such as the Overwatch League.

Gameplay

A screenshot from Overwatch while in-match. The player (playing Tracer) and their allies are indicated in blue, while the opposing team is in red. The character's health bar is shown on the bottom left, their main skills and attacks are shown on the bottom right, and their progress towards their ultimate ability is shown in the bottom center.

Overwatch features a number of different game modes, principally designed around squad-based combat with two opposing teams of six players each. Players select one of over two dozen pre-made hero characters from one of three class types: Damage heroes that deal most of the damage to attack or defend control points, Tank heroes that can absorb a large amount of damage, and Support heroes that provide healing or other buffs for their teammates.[lower-alpha 1] Each hero has a unique skill kit, defining their intrinsic attributes like health points and running speed, their primary attacks, several active and passive skills, and an ultimate ability that can only be used after it has been charged through dealing damage. Players can change their hero during the course of a match, as a goal of Overwatch's design was to encourage dynamic team compositions that adapt to the situation. The game's genre has been described by some journalists as a "hero shooter", due to its design around specific heroes and classes.[2][3]

The game features game modes for causal play, competitive ranked play, and for supporting eSports competitions including Blizzard's Overwatch League. These modes generally are centered around sequentially securing control of points on the map, or escorting a payload between points on the map, with one team attacking while the other defends. Other modes set aside for causal matches include solo and team deathmatch, capture-the-flag, and unique modes run during various seasonal events. Regardless of winning or losing a match, players gain experience towards a player level, and on gaining a new level, receive loot boxes that contain cosmetic items that they can use to customize the appearance of the hero characters but otherwise does not affect gameplay. Loot boxes can also be purchased through microtransactions.[4]

Plot

The backstory to Overwatch is described through animated shorts and other information distributed by Blizzard in promoting the game.[5][6][7]

Overwatch is set sixty years into the future of a fictionalized Earth, thirty years after the resolution of the "Omnic Crisis". Prior to the Omnic Crisis, humanity had been in a golden age of prosperity and technology development. Humans developed robots with artificial intelligence called "Omnics", which were produced worldwide in automated "omnium" facilities and put to use to achieve economic equality, and began to be treated as people in their own right. The Omnic Crisis began when the omniums started producing a series of lethal, hostile robots, which turned against humankind. The United Nations quickly formed Overwatch, an international task force to combat the omnic threat and restore order.

Two veteran soldiers were put in charge of Overwatch: Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison. Though Overwatch successfully quelled the robotic uprising and brought a number of talented individuals to the forefront, a rift ended up developing between Reyes and Morrison, and Morrison became the leader of Overwatch while Reyes took charge of Blackwatch, Overwatch's covert operations division. Overwatch maintained peace across the world for several decades in what was called the "Overwatch Generation" as the team gained more members, but the rift between Morrison and Reyes intensified. Several allegations of wrongdoing and failures were leveled at Overwatch, leading to a public outcry against the organization and in-fighting between its members, prompting the UN to investigate the situation. During this, an explosion destroyed Overwatch's headquarters in Switzerland, purportedly killing Morrison and Reyes among others. The UN passed the Petras Act, which dismantled Overwatch and forbade any Overwatch-type activity.

Overwatch is set six years after the Petras Act; without Overwatch, corporations have started to take over, fighting and terrorism have broken out in parts of the globe, and there are signs of a second Omnic Crisis occurring in Russia. A former member of Overwatch, the intelligent gorilla Winston, decides to begin reforming Overwatch to protect the peace once again despite the Petras Act, with the team members recruiting old friends and gaining new allies in their fight.[8] Thus it is also revealed that Reyes and Morrison were not killed in the explosion, that, in fact, was the result of a battle between them: Morrison became a masked vigilante known as "Soldier: 76", who is trying to uncover the reasons why Overwatch was shut down; while Reyes joined the criminal organisation Talon and became "Reaper", a terrorist disguised as Death.

Development

Overwatch came about in the aftermath of Blizzard's decision to cancel the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Titan in 2013, a project that had been in development for about seven years. While most others assigned to the project were transferred to other departments within Blizzard, a small team of about 40 people, led by director Jeff Kaplan, were tasked to come up with a new concept for a game in a few months. After some brainstorming, they came onto the idea of a hero team-based shooter, building upon the success of games like Team Fortress 2 and multiplayer online battle arenas. They started with assets developed for Titan to demonstrate the proof-of-concept, and were greenlit to build out the full game, the first new intellectual property that Blizzard had developed since StarCraft.[9][10]

The intra-company experience of Titan's cancellation served to help drive the narrative and setting. They created an optimistic vision of the near-future, some decades following the Omnic Crisis and the formation and collapse of the peacekeeping Overwatch group. This allowed them to create a diverse cast of characters, include non-human ones, and colorful settings from around the globe.[11] The Overwatch team continues to support the game through free updates, the introduction of new characters, maps, game modes, cosmetic items, seasonal events, and external media to support the game's narrative, as well as continuously tuning how the individual heroes play by monitoring meta-game statistics and user feedback.

Marketing

Overwatch was formally announced at the BlizzCon event on November 7, 2014; the game was playable during the event to all attendees, with fourteen characters available to select from.[12] During this event Blizzard released a cinematic trailer and an extended gameplay video for the game.[13][14] A month after the BlizzCon event, in December 2014, Blizzard published character introduction videos to its YouTube channel, and followed up on this May 2015 by posting weekly videos of game footage and character highlights.[12]

A closed beta period for Overwatch across all three platforms began on October 27, 2015.[15] The closed beta was put on "extended break" in December and brought back in February 2016.[16] Following the March 2016 release announcement, Blizzard announced an open beta period from May 5 to 9 for any registered user of the Battle.net client.[17][18] The open beta proven popular with Blizzard reporting over 9.7 million players participating,[19] and as a way of showing thanks, extended the open beta period by one extra day.[20]

In the week prior to release, Blizzard arranged to have three giant-sized boxes (approximately 15 feet (4.6 m) tall) of various Overwatch heroes, as if being sold as packaged action figures, put on display across the globe at Hollywood, Paris, and Busan, South Korea.[21][22][23] The displays were created by Alliance Studios, led by Steve Wang, who has collaborated with Blizzard before on past projects, and Eddie Yang.[24] After planning the design of the sculptures in January 2016, teams across the world, including Droga5, Scicon, Stratasys and Egads, raced to print, finish and assemble the works in time for the game's release.[25] Propelled by Overwatch, Blizzard had over 50% of the American advertisement share among gaming industry brands from May 16 to June 15, 2016.[26]

Overwatch was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One platforms on May 24, 2016, with the game servers coming online at 00:00 BST that day. Blizzard allowed retailers to sell physical copies of the game on May 23 to help players prepare for the servers' launch.[27][28] The game will be supported by updates, including new maps and characters. All of the additional content will be free for existing players and does not require additional payment. Blizzard hoped that through this method they can alleviate the concerns of some players.[29]

Two special editions of Overwatch were released alongside the base game. The Origins Edition, available both as a downloadable and retail product, includes the base game and five additional character skins, as well as other bonus items for other Blizzard games via Battle.net.[30] The Collectors Edition, only available as retail, includes the Origins Edition content as well as a statue of Soldier: 76, one of the playable characters, along with the game's soundtrack and a source book.[31] Those that purchased either the Origins or Collectors Editions received the Baby Winston battle pet in World of Warcraft.

In honor of its first anniversary, Blizzard released a digital Game of the Year edition of Overwatch on May 23, 2017; it includes all content from the Origins Edition in addition to ten free in-game loot boxes.[32]

Blizzard has expressed interest in supporting cross-platform play between console systems in the future, though has no plans for Windows-supported cross-play due to the precision advantage of keyboard-mouse controls over controller-based ones.[33][34]

Blizzard opted to tell the story of Overwatch across various mediums, rather than include a story mode; Chu stated, "One of the things that's really great is we're able to leverage the strengths of these different mediums to tell different parts of the story," citing Soldier: 76's appearances in fake news reports, an animated video narrated from his perspective, as well as the Hero short.[35] Chu remarked that Blizzard's method of storytelling with Overwatch demonstrated a "gameplay first" philosophy.[36] In 2018, Blizzard hired Alyssa Wong to help with development of Overwatch's narrative.[37]

In March 2016, Blizzard announced that they would be releasing comics and animated shorts based on Overwatch in 2016. The related media included plans for a graphic novel called Overwatch: First Strike, which would have focused on the story of several in-game characters including Soldier: 76, Torbjörn, Reaper, and Reinhardt. The novel was to be penned by writer Micky Neilson and artist Ludo Lullabi.[38] Blizzard opted to cancel First Strike in November 2016, with Chu stating that since the announcement of the graphic novel, Overwatch's narrative development has gone in a somewhat different direction, changing out these origin stories would work. Blizzard still plans to reveal more of the characters' backstory in time.[39]

Blizzard began releasing the series of animated shorts in March 2016; the shorts maintained the style of the game's cinematic trailer, which centered on a battle in which Tracer and Winston fought Reaper and Widowmaker in the Overwatch Museum.[14] A collection of these cinematic sequences played in movie theaters across the United States as part of the game's launch event.[40] The first episode of the animated short series, Recall, was released on March 23. It centers on Winston and Reaper, and features flashbacks to Winston's childhood.[41] The second episode, Alive, showcased a standoff between Tracer and Widowmaker, and was released on April 5.[42] The third episode, Dragons, featuring the brothers Hanzo and Genji, was released on May 16.[43] The fourth and final episode of the series' first season, Hero, stars Soldier: 76, and was released May 22.[44]

A 100-page art book, titled The Art of Overwatch and featuring various artwork and art prototypes from the game, was published by Dark Horse Comics in October 2017.[45]

Funko has produced several Overwatch character figurines in their Pop line since the game's launch.[46] Good Smile Company announced they will produce Nendoroid figurines of various Overwatch characters in 2017 and onward, starting with Tracer, and followed by Mercy and Mei.[47] Blizzard has also worked with Nerf to design Overwatch-stylized toy guns as part of their Nerf Rivals line,[48][49] and The Lego Group to create Overwatch Lego toys starting in October 2018.[50][51][52]

Overwatch characters and elements have been brought over to Blizzard's crossover multiplayer online battle arena game, Heroes of the Storm. The characters Tracer, Lúcio, Zayra, Genji, and D.Va are all playable heroes in Heroes of the Storm, and an arena based on the Overwatch map Hanamura has been added to the game.[53][54] Blizzard plans to add Junkrat, Ana, Hanzo, and a map based on Overwatch's Voskaya Foundry.[55]

Professional competition

Overwatch was not developed with any dedication towards eSports, focusing on "building a great competitive game" first and foremost, according to Morhaime, though they recognized that the game had potential as an eSports title through internal testing.[56] Although Blizzard had success with committing to eSports with the development of Starcraft II, they had found that "it's dangerous to be overly committed to esport too early in the lifespan of the game", according to Kaplan instead seeing how the community developed this over time as they saw from Hearthstone.[57] Kaplan stated that while eSports was not a design goal, they included and planned for features for the game to support the competitive community.[57] This included the introduction of the game's competitive mode some months after the game's launch after seeing how players took towards Overwatch; Blizzard saw the ladder-approach they used as a means for skilled players to reach high ranks as to be noticed by eSport team organizers.[56] Dan Szymborski writing for ESPN stated that Overwatch was poised as the next big eSport for having a sufficiently different look and playstyle from established eSports titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Call of Duty, enough variety in maps and characters, and strong support from Blizzard to maintain the game for a long time.[58] Bryant Francis writing for Gamasutra noted the speed and short match times of Overwatch make the game highly favorable for viewership, further supporting the title as an eSports title.[59]

Just prior to the game's release, PC Gamer writer Stefan Dorresteijn contacted professional eSports players and hosts for their opinions. Longtime eSports host Paul Chaloner stated that "[Overwatch] needs a much better spectator system," going on to elaborate, "Right now, it's incredibly difficult for commentators and viewers to see the skills of the players: who used their ultimates and how did they interact? Who is on cooldown and who has changed hero?"[60] Fellow eSports player Seb Barton and Michael Rosen criticized the game's map designs and game modes; Barton remarked that "the game modes are a little hit and miss," adding that "King of the hill [Control] is super exciting and fast paced but then you have the payload [Escort] maps, which are just a snoozefest for everyone involved."[60] Rosen expressed a need for tweaking to the maps used for the control game mode, as they are "just too prone to the snowball effect. The moment the attacking team captures the first control point they don't just have the momentum but also the last advantage for the second and final capture point."[60]

The first organized, prize-winning competitions for Overwatch started in mid-2016, a few months after launch. The eSports organizer ESL held the first international Overwatch competition in August 2016, called Overwatch Atlantic Showdown.[61] The competition used four open qualifiers beginning in June, followed by regional qualifiers and then a final online qualifier. Eight teams then competed for a six-figure prize in the finals to be held at Gamescom 2016 from August 20–21.[62] Turner Broadcasting's ELeague announced the first Overwatch Open tournament, starting in July 2016, with a total prize pool of $300,000, with plans to broadcast the finals on Turner's cable channel TBS in September 2016.[63] In November 2016, Blizzard hosted their own Overwatch World Cup, allowing users to vote for teams to represent their nation or region, with finals taking place during their BlizzCon event.[64] Overwatch grew increasingly in South Korea since it was released. It topped gaming cafes in Korea in terms of player count, surpassing that of League of Legends.[65] The game influenced the creation of an eSports tournament in the region, under the brand APEX, which was shut down in January 2018.[66]

Overwatch League

At Blizzcon 2016, Blizzard announced their plans for their Overwatch League, using an organization of permanent teams in league placements similar to more traditional North American professional sports leagues,[67] rather than the use of promotion and relegation used in a series like League of Legends Championship Series.[68] Blizzard sought potential team owners including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, and by November 2017, had established 12 franchises around the world with plans to expand further in later seasons. Contracted players on these franchises are guaranteed a minimum salary, benefits, and revenue sharing. The first season of the League started in January 2018, with teams vying for a US$one million League winner prize, alongside other winnings from a total prize pool of US$3.5 million. The first season was played at Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California, but Blizzard anticipates developing other venues around the world with teams traveling to participate in games.[68][69]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
MetacriticPC: 91/100[70]
PS4: 90/100[71]
XONE: 91/100[72]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid10/10[73]
EGM9/10[74]
Game Informer10/10[75]
Game Revolution[76]
GameSpot9/10[77]
GamesRadar+[78]
IGN9.4/10[79]
PC Gamer (US)88/100[80]
Polygon8/10[81]
VideoGamer.com9/10[82]
PlayStation LifeStyle10/10[83]
The Escapist[84]
The Guardian[85]
Edit on wikidata Edit this on Wikidata

Before its release, Overwatch experienced a period of pre-launch attention not typically expected; Game Revolution noted that "[Overwatch's] reputation has quickly permeated through cyberspace, attracting attention from people who may not traditionally put down $40 to $60 each time a new first-person shooter releases."[86] The game's open beta, which attracted 9.7 million players, was very heavily covered by the media.[87]

Overwatch received "universal acclaim" upon release, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[70][71][72] IGN's Vince Ingenito praised the game's characters and maps, writing "Overwatch takes just about every possible opportunity to make its cast and locales seem like people and places rather than puppets and scenery." Ingenito added that the game has a "strong online experience that gets you into games quickly and reliably."[88] The Verge's Andrew Webster praised Overwatch and previous titles Titanfall and Splatoon as "friendly online shooters" that have room for both new and casual players who may not desire to master the game but can still compete fairly with others, and for expert players that can utilize the various heroes to adapt to the dynamic tactics of the game.[89] Webster went on to cite the atmosphere of Overwatch as a reason for the game's approachability, writing, "The first thing that makes Overwatch's world appealing and approachable is, well, its world. This isn't the dour brown-and-grey shooter you might be used to. Instead, it's bright and colorful, with a cast of characters that's eclectic and diverse."[89] Caty McCarthy of Kill Screen echoed similar thoughts, writing "When playing Overwatch, the player is absorbed by its radiating positivity. It's a world filled with lively color and energetic, playful competition, much like Nintendo's creative kid-friendly ink-shooter Splatoon."[90] Mike Minotti of VentureBeat commending the team-based gameplay, the game's diverse character roster and colorful settings, as well as the unlockable cosmetics earned through level progression and the smooth server connection.[91] Referencing its similarities to Team Fortress 2, Minotti confirmed that "[Overwatch has] distinct classes, the team- and objective-based combat, and a bright, cartoon-like art style," and that "Overwatch certainly takes plenty of inspiration from Valve's online shooter series," but opines that "[Overwatch is] just better."[91] Daniel Tack of The News & Observer positively received the game, expressing that "no matter what happens – win or lose – you’re going to have fun," adding that "the game's strength lies in its simplicity and polish."[92] Tack went on to praise the game's characters, writing "Unforgettable characters are the lifeblood and driving force of Overwatch."[92] The Denver Post's Hugh Johnson lauded the game for its emphasis on characters, rather than focusing on traditional first-person shooter tropes, such as weapon load outs and incremental level upgrades.[93] Johnson went on to insist that the characters are balanced writing, "The big question with class-based shooters like these is whether or not the characters are balanced," expressing that "some characters are naturally better, but no character is so overpowered that their mere presence spells doom for their opponents."[93] In June 2016, Vulture's Joshua Rivera listed Overwatch as one of the "best video games of 2016 (so far)," writing, "It's hard to separate Overwatch the game from Overwatch the phenomenon — and why bother, both are fascinating."[94]

The online magazine Inverse, while expressing an overall positive reception for the game, pointed out the balance of McCree, teams composed of only one character, issues with matchmaking, and the Play of the Game as problems that should be fixed by the game's development team.[95] Gabe Gurwin of Digital Trends, directed criticism at Blizzard, for their decision to exclude the story from the game, which left players "with a great game, a great story, and no way to reconcile the two."[36]

Shortly after the game's competitive play mode was released, Kotaku's Nathan Grayson stated that "Overwatch's competitive mode [is not] all that bad, for how new and unpolished it is," but opined that "high-stakes competition and toxicity tend to go hand-in-hand, and Overwatch's competitive mode already has an ugly toxic stain." Grayson concluded his piece with "Overwatch is, most of the time, a feel-good team game. Introducing high-stakes competition with a muddled message about the importance of individual skill drags the game into confused, oftentimes negative territory. If Blizzard wants this thing to work, they're gonna have to figure out a competitive framework that's true to Overwatch's spirit, rather than just the spirit of competition."[96] Kaplan acknowledged that with the introduction of competitive mode that the whole of the Overwatch community has become more toxic, and they are constantly adapting elements behind the scenes to help deal with aggressive players in a more responsive manner, while trying to promote more enjoyable matches.[97]

Sales

Overwatch player growth

A week from its launch, Blizzard reported over seven million Overwatch players with a total accumulated playtime of 119 million hours;[98] Blizzard reported more than 10 million players by mid-June,[99] and has reported continued increases in the player base, with 40 million players as of May 2018.[100] The NPD Group, a video game industry tracking firm, reported that Overwatch was the third best-selling retail video game (nb. discounting digital sales through Battle.net) in the US in May 2016 on the month of its release, and was the top-selling game in June 2016;[101][102] the NPD Group later reported it was the 7th highest selling game by revenue (excluding Battle.net sales) in the United States for all of 2016.[103] With digital sales, Overwatch was the fastest selling game during its release month.[104] SuperData Research estimated that Overwatch brought in more than $269 million in revenues from digital sales worldwide in May,[105] and over $565 million in sales on personal computers along by the end of 2016, making it the highest grossing paid game for personal computers that year.[106]

In Activision-Blizzard's quarterly earnings report for Q1 2017, the company reported that Overwatch revenues had exceeded one billion dollars, the eighth such property owned by the company to do so.[107] In June 2016, Gametrics, a South Korean internet cafe survey website, reported that Overwatch overtook League of Legends as the most popular game played across 4,000 of South Korea's PC bangs at the time.[108]

In 2018, Overwatch raised over $12.7 million for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which they generated from selling a special character skin where all proceeds went towards it.[109]

Controversies

While the developers were aiming to avoid sexualization of the characters, there was some criticism of the female characters of the game during its development. In February 2015, Anita Sarkeesian commented on the lack of diversity in the female heroes' body types from the game's first twelve revealed characters,[110] while Nathan Grayson of Kotaku remarked that "Overwatch's women are mostly super slim and clad in cat suits."[111] In March 2015, the development team revealed a new character, Zarya, who is a female Russian bodybuilder with a muscular body, and pledged commitment to diversity.[112]

Following promotional images featuring the female character Tracer in March 2016, a thread on Blizzard's official forums drew attention to one of Tracer's victory poses, which was criticised by a user as out of character and oversexualized. Kaplan apologized for the pose, stating "The last thing we want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable, under-appreciated or misrepresented," and confirmed that Blizzard planned to replace the pose. Kaplan's response drew mixed reactions from the gaming community, with many claiming Blizzard had forgone its creative control over the game and censored its content to placate one offended user, while others praised Blizzard's willingness to listen to the community and adhere to standards for portraying a character according to their personality. Kaplan later stated that the team was already unsure of the pose and was thinking of changing it.[113] The following week, a replacement pose was released, although it was noted to be similar to the original pose.[114][115] The replacement pose was alleged to be influenced by Billy DeVorss cheesecake pin-up art.[115] The pose was replaced during the game's beta period.[114]

Following the game's release, some of the alternative outfits for characters had come under criticism for using cultural stereotypes, such as a Native American headdress option for the character of Pharah, who seemed to be primarily of Egyptian origin. Kaplan noted that they considered for all these outfits if they were appropriate, believing they were respecting the cultures of the characters they had created, and would make necessary changes if they felt there were valid concerns. Kaplan commented that many players have responded positively to these outfits and feel they fit in appropriately with the idealized version of Earth.[116] Later game developments showed that Pharah was actually set out as a half-Egyptian/half-Native American character, making such outfits appropriate in hindsight.[117]

In Overwatch's Asia servers, there were problems with numerous players using cheats tied to the growing number of younger players using PC bangs in South Korea that allow them to play Overwatch on an inexpensive hourly rate rather than purchasing the game. As these players do not need permanent accounts, they can use disposable Battle.net accounts and employ game hacks without repercussion, and if that account is banned, they can quickly make another and continue playing. Blizzard continues to block these accounts at a rate of thousands per day, but have not been able to find a more permanent solution.[118] Subsequently, Blizzard announced that players from South Korea will be required to log into a Battle.net account to play the game from February 2017 onward, which requires a difficult-to-spoof resident registration number among other unique information, which Blizzard believes would help to alleviate the problem.[119]

As to maintain a fair competitive field on consoles, Blizzard has spoken out against the use of input converters that would allow console players to use keyboard/mouse controllers, believing this gives an advantage to players that can afford the converter.[120] Some players have criticized the ability to use these converters, as players with them often populate the top of the competitive ranking ladders. Though Blizzard has appealed to Sony and Microsoft to either prevent such converters, or to detect when such converters are used as to be able to segregate players into servers based on this, disabled players have spoken out against such action, as many need to use such converters to play the game on consoles lacking the ability to use a normal controller.[121]

After a year from its release, journalists observed that the player community was becoming more toxic, disrupting the enjoyment of playing the game. It was believed this came from the nature of the game that requires teamwork, and when teammates see players unwilling to switch to different heroes to balance the team or otherwise play for individual gains, this would cause the teammates to become angry and lash out at the player, become griefers and throw the match, or other negative behavior that would spread over time, particularly in the game's competitive mode. Players are able to report malicious users with in-game tools, and Blizzard can ban players for egregious actions, but they do not attempt to segregate out bad actors from the larger pool (a method used by other developers in multiplayer games), instead keeping an inclusive community for all non-banned players, which is believed to contribute to the growing toxicity. Kaplan said in a September 2017 update that Blizzard was very well aware of the problem, and have worked to improve their in-game player behavior reporting tools to help combat the toxicity, but because they have had to put greater effort into this, they are distracted from developing new features and content for the game. Kaplan urged the community to consider how they can improve individually and as a whole to help combat the situations.[122][123][124]

In November 2017, the Belgian gambling regulator announced that it was investigating Overwatch, alongside Star Wars Battlefront II, to determine whether loot boxes constituted unlicensed gambling.[125]

Accolades

Overwatch won numerous awards in 2016, including being named Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2016, D.I.C.E. Awards, and Game Developers Choice Awards, as well as several awards and nominations highlighting its game direction and as a leading multiplayer game. Several publications, including IGN,[126] GameSpot,[127][128][129][130] Game Revolution,[131] EGMNow,[132] GamesTM,[133] The Escapist,[134] Game Informer[135] and Eurogamer,[136] named Overwatch the best game of 2016, receiving 102 "game of the year" awards across critics and reader polls.[137]

Giant Bomb gave it the awards for "Best Debut" and "Best Multiplayer",[138][139] and put it in third place for "Game of the Year".[140] Polygon and Slant Magazine also put the game in third place for "Game of the Year",[141][142] while PC Gamer gave it the award for "Best Multiplayer".[143] Besides "Game of the Year", The Escapist also gave it the awards for "Best Shooter and Multiplayer".[144] Game Informer also gave it the awards for "Best Competitive Multiplayer" and "Best Shooter".[145][146] At IGN's Best of 2016 Awards, the game also won the awards for "Best Shooter", "Best eSports Game", "Best Multiplayer", and "PC Game of the Year".[126] In IGN's Best of 2017 Awards, the game won the People's Choice Award for "Best Spectator Game",[147] while Game Informer gave it the award for "Best Shooter as Service" in their 2017 Shooter of the Year Awards.[148]

YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2016 Golden Joystick Awards Best Original Game Won [149][150]
Best Visual Design Nominated
Best Audio Nominated
Best Multiplayer Game Won
Best Gaming Moment (Play of the Game) Won
Game of the Year Nominated
PC Game of the Year Won
Competitive Game of the Year Won
The Game Awards 2016 Game of the Year Won [151][152]
Best Game Direction Won
Best Art Direction Nominated
Best Action Game Nominated
Best Multiplayer Won
ESports Game of the Year Won
Hollywood Music in Media Awards Best Original Score – Video Game Won [153]
2017 D.I.C.E. Awards Game of the Year Won [154]
Action Game of the Year Won
Outstanding Achievement in Animation Nominated
Outstanding Technical Achievement Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay Won
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design Won
NAVGTR Awards Game of The Year Won [155]
Game, Original Action Won
Original Light Mix Score, New IP Nominated
Character Design Won
Game Design, New IP Nominated
2017 SXSW Gaming Awards Video Game of the Year Nominated [156][157]
ESports Game of the Year Won
Trending Game of the Year Won
Excellence in Design Nominated
Most Promising New Intellectual Property Won
Most Memorable Character (Tracer) Nominated
Excellence in Multiplayer Won
Excellence in Art Nominated
Excellence in Animation Nominated
Game Developers Choice Awards Game of the Year Won [158][159]
Best Audio Nominated
Best Design Won
Best Technology Nominated
Best Visual Art Nominated
Game Audio Network Guild Awards Audio of the Year Nominated [160]
Sound Design of the Year Won
Best Interactive Score Nominated
Best Cinematic/Cutscene Audio (The Last Bastion) Nominated
Best Dialogue Nominated
Best Game Audio Article, Publication or Broadcast Won
13th British Academy Games Awards Best Game Nominated [161][162]
Game Design Nominated
Multiplayer Won
Original Property Nominated
AMD Esports Audience Award Nominated
ASCAP Composers' Choice Awards 2016 Video Game Score of the Year Nominated [163]
2017 Teen Choice Awards Choice Video Game Won [164]
Golden Joystick Awards eSports Play of the Year (Agilities) Won [165][166]
eSports Game of the Year Won
Still Playing Nominated
The Game Awards 2017 Best Ongoing Game Won [167]
Best eSports Game Won
2018 NAVGTR Awards Game, eSports Won [168][169]
Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Original Choral Composition ("Honor and Glory") Nominated [170]
14th British Academy Games Awards Evolving Game Won [171]
2018 Webby Awards Best Game Design Won [172]
Best Multiplayer/Competitive Game Won
2018 Teen Choice Awards Choice Video Game Nominated [173][174]
Golden Joystick Awards Still Playing Award Pending [175]
eSports Game of the Year Pending

Legacy

Overwatch's fan base has been noted to be generally kind and supportive; Daniel Starkey of Wired wrote, "where many fresh games struggle with an endless stream of player complaints and developer-prodding, Overwatch's community is vivacious and jubilant."[13] A gamer with cerebral palsy publicly praised the game's customizable controls, which let him make his first snipe in a video game.[176][177] One of Blizzard's artists, Roman Kenney, drew concept art based on one player's daughter's original Overwatch character design.[178] Blizzard altered one of the game's maps to include a tribute to an avid Chinese fan of the game who died from injuries while trying to stop a motorcycle theft on the day before the game's public release.[179]

Cosplay of various Overwatch characters at New York Comic Con 2016

Blizzard has encouraged fans of Overwatch to make artistic content based on the game.[180] To support this, Blizzard released the hero reference kit before release, providing official colors and costume and weapon designs for all 21 heroes present at the game's launch.[181] Fans have used these, the game's animated media, and other assets to create a large amount of content, including art,[182][183] cosplay,[184][185] and anime opening-style music videos.[186][187] Some Overwatch concepts have created internet memes such as "Gremlin D.Va", which focuses on the character D.Va, portrayed through Western gamer stereotypes.[188] In some cases, Blizzard has reciprocated these fan creations back into the game, such as an emote for D.Va, based on the Gremlin meme.[189] At the 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit in February 2017, Kaplan said that much of Overwatch's narrative is now being borne out of the game's fans, adding "We love it, that it belongs to them...We’re just the custodians of the universe."[11] Kaplan recognizes that he himself is seen as an Overwatch character within the fan community, and following similar steps that Hearthstone's lead designer Ben Brode has done, has continued to engage with the fan community.[190]

There exists pornographic fan art of the game, with Pornhub searches of Overwatch characters partaking in sexual activities spiking by 817% shortly after the release of the open beta.[191] A large amount of such pornographic fan works are created with Valve Corporation's Source Filmmaker tool and make use of the game's actual models, which were ripped from the game during its closed beta and consequently spread over the internet.[192] Blizzard made efforts to remove the works.[180] Kaplan stated that while the studio does not want to infringe on anyone's freedom of expression, Blizzard is mindful that many players are teenagers or younger and would hope the community would try to keep such imagery away from them.[116]

Notes

  1. ↑ The game originally had four character classes prior to a June 2018 update, which combined the former "offense" and "defense" classes into a single "damage" class.[1]

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