It is celebration time at Activision-Blizzard, with Overwatch becoming one of the most popular games in only a matter of weeks, reaching over 15 million players. The gaming giant claims that Overwatch has become the fastest-selling PC title in China, a position previously held by another Blizzard game, Diablo III. Let us discuss briefly what both games are about and what its success means for the Chinese market and fans around the world.
Diablo III was a highly anticipated sequel, which came around almost a decade after Diablo II and launched to universal acclaim. However, we must not forget the online-only situation faced by PC players that was heavily criticized (to say the least) when the game launched. This was a form of Digital Rights Management put in place by Blizzard. It requires a constant connection to play the game, even in single player. However, this was not a concern when the game finally launched on consoles. In any case, the game was an instant hit and did not disappoint.
Overwatch is a multiplayer shooter so it is understandably an online-only game. Although the gameplay is miles apart from Diablo, one can notice the signature features Blizzard is known for, such as unique abilities and the iconic design of characters that makes them easy to spot at a glance. In Diablo, all the creatures as well as heroes are designed to be easily recognized based solely on their silhouette. The red outlines that we see on enemies helps immediately identify exactly who we are facing and what abilities the enemy might have. This is a feature that has made its way to Overwatch as well, where the enemy team is marked by red outlines, as well as red effects for their weapons and abilities to easily distinguish friends from foes.
Coming back to the success of Overwatch, it is clear that the game is not only popular in the Chinese gaming market, with Blizzard enjoying the highest-ever player count across their games, at 33 million monthly active users. This 13 percent increase has been attributed to the success of Overwatch as well as the continued popularity of Hearthstone and World of Warcraft.
This makes us wonder about the Chinese character Liao who is rumored to be a future Overwatch hero. Perhaps Blizzard will expedite the development and introduction of this character, seeing the success of the game in China. Liao was a former Overwatch member according to the lore, and his inclusion would make him the second Chinese character, after Mei, and will make China the only country to have two Overwatch heroes.
When it comes to video games, Blizzard is without a doubt one of the best in terms of quality and longevity. The games are fun and addictive and spare no expense in visual fidelity and design. Ever since the early days of StarCraft, Warcraft and Diablo, the company has come a long way and so have the games. Fans including us have grown up with Blizzard franchises and it is great to see a new generation of gamers being able to experience the timeless classics such as Diablo or Warcraft, and not just the new gems such as Overwatch.
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