Overwatch Player Base Continues to Grow After Retribution
It’s been almost two years since Overwatch’s launch, but it doesn’t seem like the game’s hype train is slowing down any time soon. According to Blizzard, the game’s recent Retribution brawl brought in a “higher participation rate than any prior event.”
During its quarterly earnings call on May 3, Activision Blizzard reported that Retribution was the most popular seasonal event in the game’s history. The brawl was part of the game’s Archives event, which explored some of the history of the Overwatch organization itself.
The Retribution brawl allowed players to embark on an Overwatch mission as a part of the Blackwatch strike team (Moira, Gabriel Reyes, Genji and McCree). However, somewhere along the line the mission goes off the tracks and the team has to adapt and fight its way out of the city.
The Archives event also brought back last year’s Uprising brawl.
On the flipside of Retribution’s impact on bringing new players to Overwatch is the surging popularity of battle royale phenomenon Fortnite.
During a financial conference call, Activision Blizzard acknowledged that Fortnite has had a direct impact on its first quarter. What does that mean for the developer’s upcoming titles, like the much anticipated and rumored-about Call of Duty: Black Ops 4?
The newest Black Ops game is set for an October release this year, and all signs point to big differences between it and its predecessors. There have been reports that the game will not feature a campaign mode, which has been a staple for the previous installments in the series. Rumors have also circulated that the game will be similar to Overwatch.
Blizzard isn’t sure what the exact cause was for the influx of Overwatch players, but it pointed to the popularity of the co-op brawl game mode and the launch of the Overwatch League as potential factors. The developer said that the League’s kickoff improved engagement with the franchise in both watching and actually playing the game.
One thing’s for sure: Activision Blizzard is certainly not afraid to make adjustments in order to stay relevant in the ever-changing shooter genre.
“Gaming is constantly evolving and innovating, which often expands the marketplace,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “And the success of Fortnite is no exception.”
The mention of Fortnite and Epic Games’ success was presented as encouraging rather than threatening, especially in regards to the millions of new players the game has brought to the shooter genre.
Kotick also dropped some hints that Activision Blizzard may be taking some inspiration from Battle Royale in its upcoming games.
“When we see people innovate in an interesting and impactful way, we’re very quick to capture inspiration from innovation, […] When we see things appeal to our audiences, we’re very good to be inspired by those.”
After the driving force of the Retribution event and the rising popularity in the shooter genre thanks to games like Fortnite, it will be interesting to see what innovations Blizzard comes up with, not just in upcoming games like Black Ops 4, but also in its existing games, such as Overwatch.
The Retribution event ran from April 10 to 30, and now Blizzard has a new event in store for May that will celebrate Overwatch’s second anniversary. Last year’s first anniversary event kicked off on May 23 and brought special new skins, emotes and voice lines to the game.