Overwatch Gained 10 Million Players in 2020, Despite Releasing No New Heroes or Modes

Development on Overwatch may have stopped so that Blizzard can work on Overwatch 2, but that doesn’t mean that the original game isn’t still growing. In an interview with GameSpot, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller, who stepped into the role after Jeff Kaplan departed recently left Blizzard, revealed that the game had reached 60 million players in 2021. The game had 50 million at the end of 2019.

“We have 60 million players that love that side of the game and are attached to [the PvP] side of the game,” Keller said. “We know, going forward, we have to make the next best version of a team-based shooter.”

It’s worth nothing that we don’t know how Blizzard got that number. The studio might be counting users who played during free weekends or have multiple accounts. Heck, Overwatch was free for a very brief point in 2020. But that doesn’t mean that the number isn’t impressive. And new content or not, Overwatch is still a good time, particularly if you play it with friends.

Here’s hoping Blizzard can maintain that momentum for Overwatch 2, and that we get some new information on it soon.