Overwatch 2 has been mired in controversy since its launch, yet the game couldn’t be doing any better if you listen to Blizzard. We say that because the financial results for the latest fiscal quarter came out, and while the new game came out in October, Blizzard decided to make a special mention of it. According to their data, the sequel to the hit multiplayer game has gotten 35 million people to try it out in the first month. They further noted that the first month’s players were double the number of the original game’s players in its first month.
That shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, given that the original Overwatch was an unknown at first, whereas this one was an established game getting a sequel. It also didn’t hurt that Overwatch 2 had the free-to-play model going for it, and that would allow new players to come in and try it out. Blizzard noted in their report that this is precisely what happened. Many of the game’s players were new and decided to try out the game for themselves. In the first ten days alone, the sequel had 25 million players try out the title, meaning the other ten million came in the next twenty.
But, when it comes to games like this, it’s not just about the players trying the title. It’s about the money they’re putting into it. Blizzard had information on that too:
“Player investment is also off to a strong start, positioning the title to be a meaningful contributor to Blizzard’s business in the fourth quarter.”
Due to the new gameplay model for the game, Blizzard won’t make money off of purchasing the game but through in-game items and upgrades. That includes an option to buy all the characters outright instead of grinding for them.
So if Blizzard is to be taken at their word, the game is doing fine, but gamers know that isn’t the case, not in full. The game’s launch was mired in issues that heavily affected those early players. The queue lines for the game are still incredibly long, and Blizzard has yet to say when they’ll be explicitly fixed. Just as important, gamers aren’t happy with many of the changes Overwatch 2 has gone through. Characters have been removed and redone, the grinding for unlocks is annoying, and in-game purchases cost more than buying the same item in real life!
Blizzard can paint the picture they want, but the gamers know the truth.
Source: VentureBeat
