Summary
- Overwatch 2's player count on Steam is growing steadily, but still pales in comparison to Battle.net's numbers.
- Recent changes, like earning Overwatch Coins through the battle pass and accessible new heroes, have boosted player interest.
- Steam's popularity and simplicity are drawing in new players as well, suggesting a potential for community growth going forward.
It's no surprise that Overwatch 2 stands out as one of the more controversial releases of the past few years, but despite the rocky course of the game's development thus far, it's currently boasting a greater average player count than ever before on Steam. This Steam version of the game was first made available in August of last year, almost a full year following Overwatch 2's initial release, and offers an attractive alternative platform to play the game on if players aren't willing to add Blizzard's Battle.net to their likely already long lists of game launchers and clients.
Nevertheless, Overwatch 2's player counts on Steam pale in comparison to those seen on Battle.net. While the game has recently seen its average player count on Steam creeping beyond 30,000 players per month, Overwatch 2 has seen tens of millions of total players accessing the game each month between the game's PC and console versions. Still, the game's player count has constantly been in flux since the game was released near the end of 2022, with the infamously bad decisions made regarding the game's PvE mode driving away tons of players, but consistent seasonal content updates and occasional special events bringing many right back.
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Player count data for Overwatch 2 made available via steamcharts.com points toward a steadily-growing community of players on Steam, and has sparked some discussion within the game's community over the past few days. Not only that, but the same data also shows that Overwatch 2's Steam version saw its greatest peak player count since release at some point last month. While the PC community originally had no option to play Overwatch 2 beyond Battle.net, many of the thousands of PC gamers trying out the game for the first time nowadays are likely to do so through Steam due to the platform's popularity and simplicity, perhaps suggesting that the game's community on Steam will only grow exponentially going forward.
How Overwatch 2's Recent Changes Have Pushed The Game in the Right Direction
This seems to be more or less the case going by the Steam version's player count data since August, though it's important to keep in mind that such numbers may not always be entirely accurate, and data regarding average player counts are subject to change as the month goes on. Still, there are certainly a variety of factors playing into the game's rising player count on Steam, but a couple of the most notable ones can be attributed directly to a few of the big changes made to Overwatch 2 more recently.
In particular, the decision to make Overwatch Coins earnable via the battle pass and the changes made to new hero accessibility have proven to bode extremely well for the game's popularity in the eyes of many existing fans. Overwatch 2 players may now play as new heroes immediately upon their addition to the game and at no additional cost, which helped make the game's most recent Season 10 a particularly successful one.
Source: SteamCharts
Overwatch 2
- Released
- August 10, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
