The same thing happens with TV shows and other video games all the time. Like, you see a show like Supernatural that’s STILL HAPPENING… obvious it lost the bulk of its major attention a long time ago. Yet, it has been trucking along for what feels like forever because obviously there is enough of a fanbase to sustain it.
Saying Overwatch is “dying” imagines a false dichotomy between the state of having ALL the attention and no attention what so ever. OW has really just had its bubble pop, so now it’s settling down to a more normal sized player base.
It’s a bit disingenuous to compare a T.V. show to a game getting heavily involved into esports. I feel like the lack of interest should be telling. What if other sports audiences and potential players just started dropping off interest like flies?
My cue time is still nearly instant in QP, maybe it could be related to your specific MMR?
Then they can stop with the eSports? That doesn’t really affect the core game. If people stop caring about eSports they’ll stop doing it.
OWL is dying =/= Overwatch is dying.
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OWL has the traction it does because of the appeal of the game. Disinterest or general apathy towards the competitive nature of the game subsequently detracts from the professional competitive nature of the game.
If you don’t have concern for the competitive side of this game, that’s fine, but there are still people who care and have hope that it won’t turn into just another timekiller, like the monster of the week series you mentioned.
When you have Whales that will buy your skins and lootboxes, you don’t really need a big community. lol!
Well that’s fine, but it’s still not the same thing as dying. Being hyperinvested in the competitive nature of the game isn’t the focus for plenty of people who play it, and we’ll still be around even if OWL crashes.
But, like, I’d be super happy if Overwatch esports remains a thing. Not because I’ll watch it, but because I like the game and would be happy to see it maintain that lasting success.
I just don’t think it’s reasonable to act like that’s the only part of OW that matters.
I’ve met very few people who actually play the game with the intention of playing quickplay or arcade. The way they’ve introduced this game is very Dota-esque in the sense that it has implied competitive elements that a person should improve at. That’s why they flash tips on the screen for how to play against certain heroes etc. From what I have seen, they’ve kind of just been going for a casual attempt at a competitive game. I think that’s the major disconnect in the community. People who care too much about the game mixed with people who just queue for the luls.
40m accounts are 5m active players at max imo.
Nah, it really just depends on who you know. From my side of the fence, almost none of the people I see talking about OW in my communities are super interested in playing Comp.
It’s almost like anecdotal evidence is flimsy!
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Fair point. I’d like to see the numbers on which queues are hit with what frequency.
Every game loses players over the time, it’s natural. Part of it might be bad decisions like balancing, but mostly it’s just hype dying out, people getting bored and so on, I mean how many times can you push the payload over and over and not get bored of doing that? Even games like Fortnite is now losing players, but neither games have this drastic population decline, like every “OW is dying” thread paints. I really don’t know a game that would sustain the same amount of active players over the years, unless it’s a game that’s already low populated, then it’s just the hardcore players/fans left, which OW is far from.
Yeah honestly it’s hard to imagine having played OW constantly since it was released. I’m only still here before I wander off for months at a time and come back when new characters are released.
After two+ years wouldn’t it be normal to lose a good amount of players? Only makes sense when new games are being released all the time.
nah its been before that.
imo, it started with the casualization of the game and how the playerbase slowly realize they were balancing the game to fit into “baby’s first fps game”.
aka, when they nerfed roadhog’s damage and put him in f-tier.
I was actually expecting them to start selling more in-game items. Even though I love the way it’s been previously, I also understood that today there’s no way to support a constantly evolving game with updates, new maps and heroes, and content overall.
As for the queue times, it’s been as quick as ever, quicker than any other games I have to play.