Activision Blizzard reveals to its investors during its quarterly report that Overwatch 2 drew approximately 35 million players to the game during the first month after release. During that same time period in 2016, Overwatch drew 15 million players.
Despite major issues during the first week after launch, bugs that currently affect Overwatch heroes and maps, and community discontent with cosmetic shop prices, Blizzard has managed to pull 35 million players to the game in its first month. Only ten days after launch, Blizzard announced that Overwatch 2 passed the 25 million player milestone. The free-to-play sequel is now outpacing its predecessor's 2016 player count, which took 8 months to reach the same mark.
In its third quarter earnings call, Activision Blizzard claimed the 35 million players it counted were a mixture of returning players and new players. The publisher should be able to tell the two groups apart as well as factor in players that have multiple accounts, but that was not shared during the call. Activision Blizzard also stated in the call notes that "Player investment is also off to a strong start" meaning that Overwatch 2 players are engaging with its monetization schemes, even if players are doing so begrudgingly.
The investor call also states the game is currently on track to continue its seasonal content updates by adding new heroes, maps, and game modes including the release of its highly anticipated PvE content in 2023. Ramattra has already been revealed in the Season 2 Battle Pass, and though new of new maps have not been revealed yet, Overwatch 2 developers have shown consistency in updates during the first month post-launch.
As popular Overwatch 2 has been, the community has raised many concerns with the game under its free-to-play system. Overwatch players have voiced their displeasure in forum posts, on social media, and even during Overwatch League live events. Many of the game-breaking issues that affected the game in the first week have been rectified, but now that players are getting putting in the hours and money into the game, they are discovering that some of its systems do not feel player-friendly.
There have been multiple complaints about Overwatch's shop prices for both individual items and cosmetic bundles. There were concerns that Blizzard may have been illegally offering discounts on bundled Overwatch 2 cosmetics without listing the item's à la carte price before the so-called discount. Players have also taken umbrage with the slow pace of getting Overwatch coins in the free-to-play path in attempts to force the hand of players to spend money in the game. The numbers from the earnings call show that players want to engage with the game, but Blizzard is towing a fine line in trying to make money from its free-to-play game without alienating the player base.
Overwatch 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: VGC
