[STEAM] Overwatch Season 1 Debut Sees Blizzard's Relaunched Hero Shooter Double Its Steam Player Record

[Steam 0]

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We already knew that

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fans were returning in their thousands with the advent of

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and "story-driven era," but Overwatch hasn't just matched its original Steam release-day fervor, it has smashed it, more than doubling the platform's concurrent peak set back in 2023.

You'll remember that Blizzard's sequel unfortunately

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, and while it saw a

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, those numbers

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. As time went on,

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about a

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such as monetization and controversies around the

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.

Now, however, with the launch of yesterday's (February 10)

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, Overwatch — the game formerly known as Overwatch 2 — smashed its original concurrent Steam peak of 75,608. And while we'd

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, Sunday's peak of 69,135 simultaneous gamers has been almost tripled, with

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recording 165,651 concurrent Steam players overnight, marking an excellent start for the rebooted hero shooter.

The Reign of Talon focuses on the antagonistic faction Talon as it takes over around the world, while Overwatch continues to fight back. In-game events, hero trailers, animated comics, short stories, and map updates will tell a story across six seasons rolled out throughout the entire year, beginning with the launch of five new heroes as the new season kicked off yesterday.

New heroes include Domina (tank), Emre (damage), Mizuki (support), Anran (damage) —

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— and Jetpack Cat (support). More heroes will join in the future, with a new hero added in each of Season 2-6 to come. A new story arc is planned to begin with another Season 1 in 2027.

We're also getting a Hello Kitty-themed in-game event from February 10-23, a new Meta Event called Conquest, where players choose to align with either Overwatch or Talon over five weeks to compete for rewards including lootboxes, skins, and titles. There's also a major UI and UX overhaul with a new hero lobby and a promise of faster navigation on the way.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at

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