Overwatch Season 1 is the "beginning of a comeback," Blizzard says as the hero shooter claws back fans: "You dream of these type of things"
391
Anthony McGlynn
2026-03-04
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands
Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands
Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Resetting a huge live-service game like Overwatch 2 is a risky move, but one that's paid off for Blizzard already. Retitling the FPS to Overwatch, adding several new heroes, and providing a narrative reset have reinvigorated the shooter's community, providing the exact kind of second wind the devs were hoping for.
Alec Dawson, associate game director on Overwatch, tells PCGamesN about the team's current blend of nervousness and excitement. "You dream of these types of things. It's the beginning of a comeback," he stated.
"Early last year we were talking about all these plans and how we were going to execute and lead up to releasing five heroes at once," he adds. "A lot of effort went into that, and seeing the result of that is something that the team's been ecstatic about."
"Marvel Rivals is the best thing to happen to Overwatch": Fans react to Blizzard's big changes and 10 new heroes
Blizzard insists its Overwatch rebrand isn't "us trying to admit there was a failure"
"The mood all week" - After a year of Marvel Rivals dominance, Blizzard is just happy you're playing Overwatch again
Putting out one fresh member of the roster can be a headache, doing five was ambitious. But minus some mixed feedback on Anran, Blizzard's largely managed to pull it off, even giving us Jetpack Cat, the current unofficial mascot of the whole game. Things are looking up, quite literally, as player records skyrocket.
"We actually had a bigger Saturday than our first Saturday after launch with Season 1," Dawson reveals. "There's that momentum that's continuing; there are a lot of people coming back to try the game again and there are a ton of new heroes, there's perks, there's Stadium - a lot of things they haven't seen before."
Now that the series is ten years old, the devs have managed to create an ideal jumping on point for newer fans, as well as those who've lapsed. That's not an easy task on this scale, and now the job becomes harnessing this energy for the foreseeable future. "We want to push this momentum and continue making sure we're making the best game for all the Overwatch fans," Dawson states.
First Persona, now Nier Automata - Overwatch is collecting the JRPG crossover icons like Infinity Stones, but fans aren't happy the same heroes keep getting skins
Recent Articles