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'Overwatch' already has 7 million people aiming at your face
Blizzard Entertainment probably knew its online shooter Overwatch was going to be pretty popular following the wildly successful beta, but maybe not to this extent. The company has revealed that the game has earned some 7 million players worldwide already across PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with users logging over 119 million hours of the colorful shooter since its May 24th launch. For context, New York City has around 8.5 million residents and the playtime translates to over 13,500 years.
Blizzard is offering one free Battle.net name change
Sick of heading into games registered to your Battle.net account as ResidentsLover or BeautifulDarkness83? You've got one free shot to make a change on Blizzard with the release of Overwatch.
Blizzard will permaban 'Overwatch' cheaters
Overwatch's massively popular beta might be over, but the game's cadre of developers at Blizzard are already making plans of how to deal with cheaters ahead of launch: Banning them. Permanently. No three strikes rule. No cool down. Just an outright permaban. And that's awesome. Writing on the forums, community manager Lylirra says that if a player is using hacks, bots or anything that gives her or him and unfair advantage, the banhammer will strike swiftly. If you spot someone cheating come the game's May 24th release, send any and all information regarding such to hacks@blizzard.com.
'Overwatch' open beta pulls in over 9 million players
It's a good time for Blizzard Entertainment right now, as the company celebrates over 9.7 million players having played team-based shooter Overwatch. During the Open Beta across Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, players amassed over 81 million hours of play across 37 million matches. These staggering numbers elevate Overwatch to Blizzard's biggest open beta yet. On average, each player clocked in around 8 hours of play time.
'Overwatch' beta signups live throughout the weekend
Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment's team-based shooter, is now available as an open beta for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. So if you've been seeing the endless stream of commercials online and were curious about what the World of Warcraft developer had to offer with this raucous adventure, you can get in on it now for free.
Fans persuade Blizzard to pull sexualized 'Overwatch' pose
Sometimes a beta test is more than a glorified demo that the marketing department pushes for to drum up pre-orders. Fans of Overwatch, Blizzard's colorful new shooter, discovered just that recently. Over on the game's official forums, a user noticed that one of Tracer's -- more or less the figurehead for the game -- victory poses put her in a position that forum-goer "Fipps" thought wasn't befitting of the character. In it, she's glancing over her shoulder, her butt framed by a few straps over her leggings.
Blizzard's 'Overwatch' hits consoles and PC on May 24
The wait is almost over for Overwatch, Blizzard's first original game in some time. The shooter will hit PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on May 24, the company announced today. Additionally, you'll be able to get your feet wet during an open beta from May 5 through May 9. Those who preorder the game will also be able to get an early start on the beta on May 3.
Dear Veronica: How many times should I buy Overwatch?
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-988498{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-988498, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-988498{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-988498").style.display="none";}catch(e){} I have someone with a bit of a cross-platform conundrum today: they want to play Overwatch, the new upcoming hotness from Blizzard, on both their PS4 and gaming PC. I bring on Scott Johnson of The Instance podcast to tell him the harsh truth. I also give a viewer some ideas on what to do with an ancient iPad, and go over the most appropriate email signatures for different situations. Keep those questions coming by using the hashtag #DearVeronica on Twitter! Also, subscribe in iTunes, RSS or YouTube!
'Overwatch Origins Edition' will be on PC, PS4 and XB1 next year (update)
Until now only a PC version had been announced for Blizzard's first all-new game in years, but today a splash page on its Battle.net website promises it will come to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Overwatch Origins Edition is expected to arrive "on or before" June 21st, 2016, although the link to BuyOverwatch.com isn't working yet. The listing itself has very little information other than promising "all digital content included with Origins Edition will be available by launch," but an eagle-eyed Reddit poster spotted what may be a full listing of items on a videogame retailer's website. The shooter has generated hype with a public beta and many Twitch streaming sessions, but for now it's just one more reason (besides that Warcraft movie trailer) to keep an eye on BlizzCon over the next few days. Update: Overwatch is up for pre-order at BuyOverwatch.com. The standard edition costs $40 and is only available for PC. The Origins Edition is $60 and is confirmed for PS4, Xbox One and PC. There's also a Collector's Edition (PS4, Xbox One and PC) for $130.
Blizzard rolls out Battle.net voice chat starting with 'Overwatch'
Blizzard has been in the online gaming business for decades with massively popular games like StarCraft and World of Warcraft, but it's never implemented a native voice-chat system in its Battle.net client. Now, it appears that's about to change. Blizzard is testing out voice chat in the beta for its new team-based shooter, Overwatch, and it sounds like the studio has plans to eventually launch voice chat for all of its games. In the Overwatch beta FAQ, Blizzard calls the system "Battle.net voice chat," rather than something Overwatch-specific. Plus, it notes, "With voice chat still in its early development and testing stages, it's too early to say which Blizzard games will be supported and when." Prepare your vocal cords, players: The Overwatch closed beta begins on October 27th.
Blizzard's 'Overwatch' shooter enters public beta on October 27th
Blizzard is almost ready to put its colorful team-based shooter Overwatch in the hands of the public. An "extremely limited" number of US players will gain access to the closed beta on October 27th, followed by fans in Europe and Asia at a later date. Blizzard says it wants this group of testers to scrutinise every part of the gameplay, including the various heroes, maps and abilities. There's much to dissect, but in particular we suspect Blizzard will be looking at the individual characters and whether they're all balanced. If you fail to get into this elite group, fear not. Blizzard will also be running "Beta Test Weekends" from time to time, with the sole purpose of stress-testing its servers. The company will be limiting the modes, maps and heroes available, but it should still give you a flavour of the game and indicate if it's your cup of tea. Team-based shooters are nothing new, but Blizzard's pedigree means it's hard not to be just a little curious about the game. Its first cinematic trailer looked like something out of a Pixar movie, and if it can offer deep, over-the-top shooter mechanics, it could be a welcome break from the ever-proliferating MOBA genre.
'Overwatch' is Blizzard's first all-new game in years, see it Thursday
Legendary game developer Blizzard hasn't released an entirely new game (not counting spin-offs of existing franchises; lookin' at you Hearthstone and World of Warcraft) in over 17 years, which is why Overwatch is so intriguing. We haven't heard much about it either, but that should change this week during a Twitch stream with a pair of prominent broadcasters (Ellohime and HayliNic) playing the game for some 90 minutes along with live developer commentary. Blizzard says that the broadcast should give a better idea of what the upcoming beta will contain, actually. The multiplayer shooters' streams will live on each broadcaster's channel and start at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. Who knows, maybe we'll finally get release dates for the beta and the game proper soon.
Rumor: Leak suggests the next WoW expansion is nearly feature-complete
So, ready to jump on the rumor mill? Because it's churning out big stuff about Blizzard today. An anonymous source from inside the company has apparently claimed that World of Warcraft's next expansion has quadrupled its art outsourcing and is nearly feature-complete. The source also claimed that Hearthstone is doing banner business, with its next expansion set to release in April with a heavier PvE focus. Darker news was revealed for the other franchises under the company's banner. The next part of StarCraft II is done but with no release date. Overwatch is in the midst of debates over business model and payment plans, with the studio pushing for a 2015 release but most likely going for 2016. Meanwhile, Heroes of the Storm has low expectations among the upper management and the Diablo III team has been "completely gutted." It's up to you you believe the rumors, of course, although come April, they might look rather plausible.
Blizzard's Overwatch bumps into trademark issues
Remember when no one knew what Overwatch was and we were all speculating it was some sort of expansion based on the fact that the trademark had been filed? Oh, it was a more innocent time. Unfortunately for that trademark, it might be having a little bit of a problem after all, as it has come to light that another company filed an earlier claim for the trademark that would supersede Blizzard's use of the name due to likelihood of confusion. The trademark that has already been filed is for an app that can be used to provide enhanced functionality for paintball matches, laser tag matches, and the like. Both trademark applications are currently suspended pending investigations, so it remains to be seen whether Blizzard will be pushing forward or will change the name of the game to something legally different. Like Oversupervise, for instance.
Perfect Ten: Looking back at the biggest MMO news of 2014
Well, my chums, here we are at the tail-end of 2014, having achieved all of our goals and new year's resolutions. Even better, we've survived what's turned out to be one of the wildest, rockiest, and most exciting years of MMO news in recent memory. This was the year of high-profile game launches, even more popular expansions, layoffs, and some epic-level studio face-palming decisions. It's easy to sit here and say that we predicted everything that was going to happen this year, but c'mon, you have to admit that you were surprised by at least one or two events in this industry. It's incredibly difficult to sum up the biggest news of the year without coming to grips with the fact that many stories aren't one-and-done; a lot of what I'm going to be talking about in this list happened over the course of weeks or months and still may not be fully over. That's how news stories are sometimes!
BlizzCon 2014: Art gallery celebrates Blizzard's past and present
The Blizzard art gallery on display at BlizzCon is always worth a visit for convention-goers, but this year's gallery was a special treat highlighting the history and development of Warcraft and World of Warcraft. If you were looking for a trip down memory lane, this was the place to be: along with early concept art and design documents, a monitor cycled through screenshots of WoW's past, including an early image of WoW running on the Warcraft III engine, the first Molten Core raid and the first Blackwing Lair raid (the which goes about as well as you'd expect). After the opening ceremony announced Overwatch, an empty part of the gallery filled with Overwatch concept art and attracted most of the attention away from Warcraft's past... but it was fun to venture back into Blizzard's past before heading into Blizzard's future. For more art, check out the full gallery below.
TradeChat's recap of BlizzCon 2014
Missed BlizzCon? Didn't get in on the virtual ticket? Panser has you covered with her recap of BlizzCon 2014. She covers the biggest news of the convention and provides a convenient gathering place for all of BlizzCon's hottest trailers. On top of it all, she provides a great big dose of Overwatch geekery, a sentiment many of us share.
Joystiq Weekly: Free Radical's Haze, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Tony Hawk and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Yes okay, BlizzCon 2014 was full of announcements. A new team-based shooter called Overwatch, a Hearthstone expansion, Warcraft movie details, the next StarCraft 2 expansion ... Blizzard fans have plenty to look forward to. Thanks to an unexpected announcement however, Tony Hawk fans also have something to look forward to (or dread, depending on cynicism) in the form of a 2015 console game. Sure, the Skate series was a cool take on realistic tricks, but we wouldn't mind getting back to the outlandish challenges, yellow-text specials and SKATE letters of the original killer skateboarding series. If you've never enjoyed injury-supplementing planks of wood with wheels, there's still plenty of good stuff from this week. News of Grand Theft Auto 5's first person mode, reviews for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Lords of the Fallen, a feature exploring the development of the unfortunate PS3-exclusive Haze, and more is all waiting for you after the break!
The Queue: Convention recovery mode
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. BlizzCon is over. I'm exhausted. Let's do this. DaEvilGenius asked: I see no mention of Eye of Azshara. Any thoughts on what it might be since all major announcements were done.
BlizzCon 2014 day 2 recap
BlizzCon has reached its conclusion but our coverage has not. If you missed any of today's events, you can find all of it below. And if you're really behind on BlizzCon, jump back to our day 1 recap. Overwatch Origins liveblog Method wins their second BlizzCon live raid World of Warcraft Q&A liveblog Overwatch hands-on gameplay expansion In the coming days, we will also have photo galleries, interviews with Alex Afrasiabi and Cory Stockton, and other bits and bobs we picked up along the way during BlizzCon 2014. We will also most certainly still be here for coverage of the launch of Warlords of Draenor which is less than one week away.
