Overwatch’s Player Count is Way Up on Steam Ahead of Next Season

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Overwatch’s player numbers on Steam have jumped significantly as big changes are coming to the game. Blizzard’s sequel aimed to build on the popularity of the original Overwatch, and while it’s had its ups and downs, it’s constantly been updated. Although the promised PvE mode announced at BlizzCon in 2019 was eventually canceled, Overwatch 2 is now preparing for its most substantial update yet.

With the 10th anniversary of Overwatch coming up, Blizzard recently shared exciting news with fans. After the end of Season 20, the game will enter a new phase – the title will simply be Overwatch, dropping the “2”. This change coincides with the start of a new story arc called Reign of Talon. Blizzard plans to add 5 new characters to the game right away, and another 5 throughout 2026, alongside a yearly storyline and other significant updates. The announcement has clearly excited players, both old and new, as the free-to-play game has quickly climbed the charts on Steam.

Overwatch Steam Player Count Reaches Impressive New Milestone

Despite a rocky start with technical problems and fan frustrations, Blizzard consistently added new content, heroes, and updates to Overwatch 2. Positive feedback on additions like the Stadium mode has paved the way for the game’s biggest update in almost three years. Early signs suggest players are returning in large numbers ahead of the February 10th release.

The launch of the Reign of Talon update has brought a lot of players back to Overwatch 2. Although Overwatch 2 is probably more popular overall on Blizzard’s Battle.net platform, the Steam version has recently seen a significant increase in players, surpassing other popular multiplayer games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6. Steam.db data shows that Overwatch 2’s player count jumped by 63% in the last 30 days, reaching a high of 69,881 players on February 7th. This is particularly notable because the game was typically around 37,000 players in January.

Image via Blizzard

Despite attracting new players, Overwatch‘s presence on Steam remains rocky. Shortly after its Steam release, the game received a huge wave of negative reviews, quickly becoming the lowest-rated game on the platform. Players were frustrated with things like paid content for PvE missions, the cancellation of planned campaign missions, and various technical problems. Although the game has improved over time, its overall user rating is still largely negative. It will be interesting to see if the significant updates coming with the ‘Reign of Talon’ release improve player sentiment in the next few days.

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Though the ‘Reign of Terror’ story might not be exactly what longtime fans expected, Blizzard is clearly prioritizing storytelling with this new version of the game. Players have a lot to be excited about, including the return of collectible hero cards after matches, more variety within each hero role (Tank, Support, and Damage), and a new in-game event where you can choose to support either Overwatch or Talon and earn weekly rewards based on your chosen side’s progress. The update also introduces five new heroes: Mizuki, Emre, Domina, Anran, and the popular Jetpack Cat. Blizzard hopes all these changes will revitalize the game and bring Overwatch back into the spotlight.

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2026-02-09 02:05