Shaping up to be the next major game from Blizzard, Overwatch is already breaking records for the company. Managing a massive 9.7 million players across PC, PS4 and Xbox One, the first-person shooter is the developer’s largest open beta ever. Releasing even more stats, Blizzard shared that players sunk 81 million hours into the game in just the single week it was available, racking up 37 million matches.
We’re thrilled that such an incredible number of players from around the globe got a chance to check out Overwatch during the Open Beta,” Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment, says about the stats. “Our mission was to make sure as many console and PC gamers as possible could experience the full game ahead of its launch—the response was overwhelming, and we hope that everyone had a blast.”
Part of the new and emerging hero shooter genre, Overwatch features 21 unique heroes going head to head in competitive multiplayer. We were “blown away by the depth of strategy and accountability this seemingly chaotic first-person ‘pseudo MOBA’ actually has.” Admiring the tight controls, balance, crazy variety, and incredible amount of character put into the title, our impressions of the beta go on to say, “There’s so much more to it than a simple class-based shooter, it’s a character-based shooter packed with a hell of a lot more fun.”
Overwatch releases May 24 with a $40 standard edition on PC and the $60 Origins Edition coming to PS4 and Xbox One. To celebrate, we here at Gamespresso are holding an Overwatch tournament later this month. We’ll be releasing more information soon. While we all wait for the game to finally release, keep checking back right here for all your Overwatch news.