'Overwatch' Sets An Impressive Record Upon New Season Release

Overwatch, formerly Overwatch 2, kicked off its new season of content today, putting a heavier emphasis on the game's narrative, as well as adding in a heap of new changes and content, including five new heroes. As it turns out, reception appears to be mostly positive, and a lot of players are jumping in for the first time or returning to the massive hero shooter.

According to SteamDB, which tracks various data points about games on the Steam platform, Overwatch has reached an all-new record for its concurrent players. As of this writing, Overwatch's highest concurrent player count is 165,651 players, achieved a few hours ago. That is more than double its previous concurrent player record. The data, of course, does not include any console players.

The big update today, Reign of Talon Season 1: Conquest, which saw the game drop the "2" in the title, becoming just Overwatch again, saw the addition of two new damage heroes (Anran and Emre), two new support heroes (Jetpack Cat and Mizuki), and a new tank (Domina). There are also new cosmetics to go with the start of the new season, a new battle pass, the addition of sub-roles for all characters, character rebalancing, and a lot more.

The new season also marks the beginning of a year-long narrative that will be told in the game, something a lot of fans have been asking for for several years. The story will continue in future updates.

To go along with the season and its story, players will also be able to side with Talon or Overwatch and earn affiliation-specific rewards.

Fan reception seems to be mostly positive so far, though there are some reports of some server issues, possibly related to the higher-than-usual player count. Popular Overwatch and Marvel Rivals content creator, Bogur, praised the game on X, writing, "Played some Overwatch and it was unironically extremely fun and refreshing, and I also think the new lighting looks phenomenal."

Overwatch is available now as a free-to-play game for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is scheduled to be released this spring.