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Fight on the moon in new ‘Overwatch’ Lunar Base map
Last week, Overwatch celebrated its one-year anniversary by dropping scores of new event-themed character skins and extras to the game. But it also added three new maps for the game's small-team and 1v1 Arena modes. It seems the title's team wasn't done expanding its playable zones: After releasing some mysterious lore about the Overwatch universe's Horizon Lunar Base days ago, the game has launched it as a full map on the PC's test realm.
‘Overwatch’ turns one with more skins for your arsenal
Last week, Blizzard answered the susurrous rising from Overwatch fans wondering whether the studio would celebrate the game's one-year anniversary: Yes, an event was in the works. (And there was much rejoicing.) To commemorate the game's arrival exactly a year ago, and in recognition of its wild critical and commercial success, Overwatch is launching a new event and releasing a Game of the Year edition for $40. But if you need convincing, the game will be free to play this weekend.
Blizzard launches an 'Overwatch' league for amateurs
Blizzard's colorful shooter may be one of the most popular multiplayer games out right now, but its eSport scene hasn't exactly got off to the best start. With rumors circulating that a slot in Overwatch's official League costs between $15 and $25 million, pro teams have started to abandon the game in droves. Now, in a bid to win them back, Blizzard has announced a new entry-level league for the game called Overwatch Contenders.
'LawBreakers' makes the leap to PlayStation 4
LawBreakers isn't confined to the PC any longer: The game is also heading to PlayStation 4, developer Boss Key Productions announced today. LawBreakers comes from Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, and it's a rapid-fire, five-on-five, first-person shooter set in a low-gravity, sci-fi world.
'Overwatch' turns one with another event and free weekend
Developer Blizzard keeps making frequent, regular updates to its popular team-shooter video game Overwatch. Players have gotten new battle arena maps, interesting new characters and various time-limited events to keep them coming back for more of what is, essentially, the same game over and over. To keep interest high, Blizzard is launching a one-year anniversary event from May 23rd to June 12th. You'll also be able to buy a new Game of the Year Edition when the event launches, which will include 10 bonus Loot Boxes, extra Hero skins, and various virtual trinkets for other Blizzard games.
Teams are abandoning 'Overwatch' before its official league debuts (updated)
Yesterday, Blizzard announced that it had formed a dedicated eSports division within the company. It will operate under the name Major League Gaming, the organization bought by the studio in 2015, and run the official Overwatch League (OWL) and World Cup. But several major eSports teams have started abandoning the game ahead of the competitive league's launch. Some of which did, reportedly, because it costs $20 million to franchise an official team.
Stephens College is the first all-women's school with an eSports team
Last Thursday, Stephens College made history when it officially created the first varsity-level eSports team at an all-women's school. The program's 12-player squad will begin digitally competing in collegiate Overwatch leagues this fall.
'Overwatch' has its first match-fixing scandal
In a month's time, Blizzard's popular multiplayer first-person shooter Overwatch will officially be a year old (not counting the beta). In that time, the game has accumulated over 25 million players, welcomed multiple new characters and maps, and established a very credible esports scene. Global prize money has amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2017 alone, bringing with the unfortunate threat of match fixing. In one of the first reported cases of Overwatch match-fixing, Korean police confirmed this weekend that the player manager and coach of local esports team Luminous Solar were charged without detention for attempting to fix a qualifying match for the second season of the APEX Overwatch league.
It's robot killing time in Overwatch's Uprising event
Yesterday, without preamble or rumor, the French trailer for Overwatch's next event leaked. Fans scrambling over the details discovered it would tell the story of mascot character Tracer's first mission in the form of a player-vs-AI horde mode of invading robots. A tenuous silence emanated from studio Blizzard. Was this for real? Yes, the Uprising event is happening -- and it's officially live on PC and console.
The next big 'Overwatch' event starts tomorrow
According to a trailer released for French-speaking audiences, Overwatch's next big event is headed to consoles and PC tomorrow, April 11th. "Insurrection" sends you and five teammates into the past against hordes of robotic Omnics on the King's Row map. Set as a "declassified" archival mission detailing Tracer's first outing for Overwatch, the update will have more than 100 new character models, emote poses and graffiti tags waiting for you. Be sure and grab this quickly, though, as the event only lasts until May 1st. Character skins from the new "Insurrection" event also leaked onto Xbox Live a few days ago, too, as fans search for more details to whet their appetite for the new update.
The Overwatch World Cup is back for 2017
The Overwatch World Cup is back for its second go-round, this time inviting players from more countries, featuring more games and promising even more live events. The world of eSports has continued to expand since the inaugural event last fall, and that's why things are kicking off now to get ready for a showdown at BlizzCon 2017. Right now, skilled players (the top 100 in each country) need to make sure they represent well enough on average that their country is in the top 32 by the time phase two starts in 25 days.
'Overwatch's' four-legged tank hero is here (for casual players)
Overwatch's new badass robot centaur Orisa makes her official debut today, but players hoping to climb those Season 4 ranks with her are going to have to wait. Blizzard is disabling her from Competitive mode for one week, according to the game's official forums and Twitter account, so people can get to know her a little better first.
SXSW's gaming awards celebrate 'Uncharted 4' and indie hits
South by Southwest isn't just about cool tech, movies and music... gaming is a big deal, too. The Austin festival has unveiled its fourth annual gaming award winners, and the top picks definitely reflect SXSW's emphases on storytelling and out-of-the-ordinary concepts. The leader, by far, was Uncharted 4. Naughty Dog's swashbuckling action game took home five prizes, including video game of the year as well as excellence awards for a memorable character, narrative, animation and visuals. It's not surprising, to be honest -- U4 has been an awards darling for months, and its combination of sophisticated characterization with breathtaking vistas was bound to be appealing to SXSW's panel.
The 24th 'Overwatch' character arrives next week
Orisa, the latest character to enter the Overwatch fray, will be widely available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 21st. Orisa is an "anchor tank," as Blizzard calls it -- this means she's the kind of massive, damage-absorbing hero that an entire team can rally behind and use as a home base, even in the middle of hectic fights. Reinhardt is another example of an "anchor tank" in Overwatch.
'Overwatch's' new hero is a badass robot centaur
Blizzard has unveiled the 24th addition to its popular online shooter Overwatch, and no it's not Doomfist (Sorry, Terry Crews!). Overwatch's new hero is Orisa, a four-legged robot built by an 11-year-old engineering prodigy to protect the people of Numbani, and she looks pretty badass.
'Overwatch' Season 4 brings a server browser and tweaked respawns
Big news for Overwatch players: Season 4 has begun and a bevy of changes and additions have arrived alongside it. First up, the competitive shooter's server browser. It's live! This means that from here on out, you can set your own parameters for how you want to play. Up for "total mayhem" in the Brawl gametype? Have at it. If the pre-made lists don't turn your crank, you can customize everything from movement speed; hero abilities; map rotation; capture speed; ultimate abilities and a whole lot more for your perfect match. For a peek, check out the video embedded below.
'Overwatch' streamer destroys his in-game imposter
Brian St. Pierre is called Kephrii in the competitive Overwatch scene, and he's known as the highest ranked Widowmaker player in the world. He recently ran into a hacker impersonating his gamer tag and using cheats, but instead of getting mad, the real Kephrii got even. While streaming the match on Twitch, St. Pierre showed off his skills by consistently killing the fake Kephrii, who played Widowmaker, then Tracer (two different character classes), on the opposing team.
'Overwatch' tests server browsing and retains CTF
Blizzard's roster of games have all evolved from their initial versions through periodic updates tweaking rules and adding content, but only after extensive testing on the studio's end. To let players in on the fun, some of the titles have opened up temporary beta servers called Public Test Realms to fiddle with proposed changes before they're fully implemented into the games. Hero shooter Overwatch is finally getting its own PTR today which PC players can use to try out the new Server Browser and Capture The Flag mode, along with a few character alterations.
'Overwatch' boasts over 25 million players
Last we'd heard, online shooter Overwatch had 15 million players. A little over three months later, and that number's gone up by quite a bit. Developer Blizzard has just announced that the current count has crossed 25 million across PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It's pretty impressive and given all the moves Blizzard has made (announcing an eSports incubator, frequent seasonal events and doling out additional characters for free) perhaps it isn't surprising that the number of players is growing. Now, if some of them would actually help move the payload we'd really be in business.
'Overwatch' rings in the Lunar New Year with capture the flag
Shortly after the hit hero shooter Overwatch launched last May, fans were treated to a slew of new character models themed for the upcoming 2016 Brazil Summer Olympics. That was just the beginning of Blizzard's extra content train, as they released more for Halloween and Christmas. Last week, they teased new stuff to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, which all goes live today. Players will be excited for the new skins, but the real win is the addition of a long-awaited capture the flag mode to the game.
