Overwatch player peaks keep rising after Season 1 launch

Overwatch's player base surged with the launch of Season 1 and five new playable heroes earlier this month, hitting levels the game hadn't seen in years. When Season 1 first launched, the game drew just over 165,000 concurrent players on Steam, and the first weekend remained steady with a peak of 122,715 concurrent players.

The growth bucked the usual pattern for live-service titles, with the audience continuing to grow week over week rather than trailing off after the update. Strong word of mouth and popular streamers returning helped sustain interest; one returning player wrote on Reddit, "Not on Steam, but I'm one of the people that got back in to the game with the new heroes and I can confirm – my word of mouth is very positive." Another summed it up simply: "We're so back."

The seasonal update and the new heroes appear to have reignited enthusiasm for the revived hero shooter, reflected in both rising player counts and continued community chatter.

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