author: Patryk Michas
Overwatch 2 Instantly Lost Almost All of Its Audience
Overwatch 2 lost viewers on Twitch at a terrifyingly rapid pace. Things do not look optimistic for the sequel of Blizzard's hit shooter.
Overwatch 2 is the sequel to the popular shooter from Blizzard, announced during BlizzCon in 2019. The game has recently launched in beta and attracted quite a few people. It's just a shame that the enthusiasm subsided after barely a week.
As it follows from information posted on GitHyp, which collects and analyzes data from Twitch and Steam, Overwatch 2 reached a record result for the series at 1.46 million viewers watching the game simultaneously on Twitch. However, this popularity only lasted for a whole day.
Looking at the graph below, we can see a drastic drop in viewership, reaching 99%, since the start of beta.
Are gamers unhappy?
Is such a strong drop in viewership due to the game being a disappointment? I see two reasons why it happened this way and not the other.
First of all, it is significant that keys to the game were given away through Twitch drops and the record number of viewers on the first day was probably caused solely by the desire to get access to the game. However, this alone does not explain such a drastic drop in interest in such a short period of time.
The second factor is the fact that the sequel does not introduce significant new, either in gameplay or even content, compared to the first Overwatch. This makes the game look too familiar, and players are unlikely to want to watch something that they have become very familiar with over the past few years.
Blizzard announces changes
After all, the excellent start of the beta shows that players are still interested in team shooters. Now the ball is on the developers court and they need to improve the overall reception of the game.
Blizzard seems to be aware of the deficiencies and shortcomings that currently exist in the game, and announced many changes, including rebalancing of characters, implementing new heroes as well as updating the leaderboards. But will this be enough to attract players for a long time?
The first phase of beta testing in Overwatch 2 will end on May 17. If you want to gain access, we have an article that will explain how you can do so: