Overwatch Seeks E-sports Domination

Overwatch wants to be the best in e-sports Chris Foxx Technology reporter

24 May 2016

World-of-Warcraft-maker Blizzard has released its first original gaming franchise in nearly two decades.

Overwatch - one of the first-person shooters - is the first time that the studio has launched an international game on PC and consoles simultaneously.

WoW is the second most popular PC game, but its player base has decreased by half from the peak of 2010.

Blizzard anticipates high sales for Overwatch and hopes that it will draw large audiences as an e-sport.

The game is a break from the previous successes of the developer that had players who looked at the world from a god-like third-person view.

Instead, gamers stare at their gun barrels as they fight other gamers in a colorful world.

"Blizzard has a massive following on a global basis and is one of the most renowned publishers," said Piers Harding-Rolls the head of games at the IHS Technology consultancy.
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"But it has no pedigree in first-person shooters (FPS) and therefore, players are eager to see what potential the game has in store."

The first Blizzard "intellectual property" in just 18 years it is the game. The studio has been focusing on spin-offs or expansions of existing franchises like Starcraft, WoW, Diablo, and Diablo.

Subscribers to WoW have dropped from a peak of 12 million in 2010 to 5.5 million in 2015, and the company has recently stopped reporting the figures.

Thomas Tippl, chief operating officer at Activision Blizzard, said Overwatch will be "Blizzard's most significant launch since Diablo 3 in 2012" and hoped it would "resonate well in the realm of e-sports".

During an earnings conference on May 5, he stated that E-sports was not only an audience-building tool but also a major driver of growth in terms time spent with our franchises."

It could be extremely profitable when it is able to draw the attention of esports competitors.

"Professional gaming tournaments were watched on the internet by more than 200 million people in 2012, while more than $200 million (PS138m), has been awarded in esports tournaments so far," said Dr Mark Johnson, a game researcher at the University of York.

"Overwatch has the potential to take a significant portion of the market for professional gaming. Counterstrike is the only FPS game with an unending success rate in professional gaming in recent years.

"However many FPS titles have failed to carve out an ever-lasting sustainable place in esports. So it remains to be seen whether Overwatch has the right formula for knocking Counterstrike off its pedestal."

Overwatch has already piqued the interest of many gamers, with over 10 million players taking part in the initial testing of the game.

The official reason for the trial was to "test servers" and to iron out any issues however the studio's chief financial officer Dennis Durkin has acknowledged: "We're doing a tonne to expose players to the riches of the world."

"We have learned a lot from the open test," Michael Chu, senior game designer at Blizzard said to the BBC. "We value the feedback of the community and have been changing things hereand there, and responding to player concerns."

One of the issues was about the depiction of female characters. Some players complained that Tracer's winning pose drew attention to her buttocks. Others were concerned about magazines that featured female characters strewn across an in-game toilet.

"There was a victory pose we felt we could improve and better portray the character. So we altered it," said Mr Chu.

The magazines were also removed and the company claims it has been working hard to develop a diverse cast of characters.

"One thing we want you to be able to notice in the game is that we have this big roster of heroes. There are some characters that resemble soldiers with a military-style however, there are characters like Mercy, who is a guardian angel that heals on the battlefield.

"We wanted players to work together as together to win."

Blizzard did not confirm that Overwatch could be free to download. However, it stated that the revenue generated from in-game purchases would enable it to continue selling the game at a discounted price.

"It was always going to be a boxed item," said Mr Chu. "We think that this is a great option because much of the fun comes from switching between heroes during combat So having all the characters available rather than locked away was crucial."

Unlike World of Warcraft, there is no subscription fee to play Overwatch online. Loot boxes can be used for customisation of characters, will be available in-game.

Blizzard says that these can be earned for no cost and it has stated that "new characters and maps" will be added to the game for free.