Script by Tai Pham
Check this out - Marvel Rivals just landed with 10 million downloads and nearly half a million active players. Meanwhile, Overwatch 2's numbers tell a different story: under 17,000 concurrent players, 'Mostly Negative' on Steam. These aren't just statistics - they're signs of a major shift in the hero shooter world.
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But to see if Marvel Rivals is truly revolutionary or just riding a familiar wave, we need to understand what made hero shooters a phenomenon in the first place
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Think back to 2016 - that's when Blizzard changed everything with Overwatch. Not just in terms of gameplay, but in how we looked at shooters entirely.
With a vibrant cast of characters, each more distinctive than the last, Overwatch transformed how we thought about team-based shooters. Heroes like Tracer, Mercy, and Genji weren't just avatars—they were personalities that players fell in love with.
The numbers tell quite a story - by 2019, Overwatch had pulled in 50 million players, sitting pretty much at the top of the gaming world. But as competitors like Valorant loomed on the horizon, Blizzard knew it needed something big. So when Blizzard announced Overwatch 2, they went big with their promises.
We're talking a complete makeover: new 5v5 matches, free-to-play model, this massive PvE story mode that would finally give all these characters room to breathe. And players? They were all in - 25 million players in 10 days. The hype was real, and Blizzard seemed ready to take their crown back in competitive gaming.
I remembered playing the game nonstop every weekend with my homies, it was tiring, but fun.
But what the players received is an outrageous betrayal.
The first major red flag came in April 2021 when Jeff Kaplan, the face of Overwatch and its beloved game director, suddenly departed Blizzard.
[Article: personal note from Jeff]
Under his leadership, Overwatch became a cultural phenomenon, generating over $1 billion in revenue within its first year and attracting more than 35 million players globally
Kaplan's ability to engage with the Overwatch community was crucial in the game's success. He regularly communicated with players through updates and Q&A sessions, addressing concerns and incorporating feedback into game development. This transparency helped build a loyal fanbase and set a standard for developer-player interaction that very few studios could match.