Overwatch's big update doubles its Steam peak

Overwatch is back in the limelight after its biggest update yet, which dropped the Overwatch 2 name to revive Overwatch and launched a multi-season narrative arc. Blizzard is marking the game's return after Marvel Rivals took its lunch for over a year — and, in a lighter aside, Winston hasn't had peanut butter in months.

This week the game added five new heroes at once, with five more due later in the year. That influx helped Overwatch more than double its previous Steam peak, drawing over 160,000 players at the same time. The turnaround follows years of the hero shooter digging itself out of a hole it helped create: a canceled PvE mode and controversial live-service changes left many players sour, and Marvel Rivals' aggressive first year didn't help.

The competition appears to have pushed both games to improve. The new heroes mix chaos and elegance: movesets feel well tuned and reasonably simple to use or counter, yet can still cause a big mess, including literal aerial catfights.

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