Overwatch

Overwatch
Overwatch logo
Studio	Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher	Blizzard Entertainment
Senior Developer	Jeff Kaplan (Game Director) Aaron Keller (Assistant Game Director) Chris Metzen (former Creative Director)
Erstveröffent- lichung	May 24, 2016
platform	Windows , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Nintendo Switch
Game engine	own engine (no name known)
genre	Multiplayer - first person shooter
Subject	Fantasy , science fiction
control	Mouse and keyboard , gamepad
medium	DVD , download
Current version	1.36.0.1.58625 from June 3, 2019
Age rating	USK PEGI

Overwatch one is multiplayer - first-person shooter of the US game developer Blizzard Entertainment . After Warcraft , StarCraft and Diablo, the gameplay is located in the fourth fantasy universe of Blizzard. Overwatch was released in May 2016 for Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 4 and Xbox One . Since then, bug fixes ( patches ) and updates have been published at regular intervals . A version for Nintendo Switch has been available since October 15, 2019.

In Overwatch , two teams of six players each compete against each other. Both teams fight for control of a given location or escort cargo on the field within a given period of time. Each participant selects one of 31 predefined heroes from the three categories of damage , tank and support , who they play in the current round, but can also switch within a category during the current round. After the end of a round, experience points and the opportunity for external changes to the heroes are awarded, but these do not affect the skills and thus also the game play (English gameplay ).

Overwatch became the most popular game of the developer studio Blizzard in the course of 2016 with over 25 million players. It reached record sales of $ 270 million in the first week after its release. The mostly cautious to skeptical reviews that were still expressed in the test phase of the game gave way to mostly positive reviews with an above-average meta value of 90 to 95 percent after numerous improvements. The game received awards in various categories in 2016, including several “Game of the Year” awards.

At BlizzCon 2019, Overwatch 2 was announced as a successor to the game. In addition to the well-known player-versus-player elements, this should also contain player-versus-environment elements.

action

The setting for the game Overwatch is a technologically and socially advanced earth in the future. The eponymous Overwatch is an elite unit of soldiers and scientists that was brought into being during the so-called "Omnic" crisis. The omnics are robots controlled by artificial intelligence that were manufactured in highly automated factories (“omnium”) without any human intervention. The tasks assigned to them consisted of safeguarding and improving human living standards. A few years later, however, the Omnic factories started the production of dangerous and inhuman robots, which have since rebelled against humanity. In the midst of this omnic crisis, Overwatch was founded by the United Nations with the aim of containing the terror of the robots and restoring peace on earth.

Overwatch was initially directed by Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison. Due to his successes in battle, Morrison was able to secure sole leadership of the unit. Reyes then founded a clandestine group, the "Blackwatch". After Overwatch worked with the nations of the world to eliminate the threat of omnics, peace reigned and the "golden age" began. Society prospered, and technology advanced too. But after kidnappings, raids and coercion were made public by "Blackwatch", critical voices immediately demanded the dissolution of Overwatch, which was mistakenly attributed these crimes. The personal differences between Reyes and Morrison finally culminated in an explosion at Overwatch headquarters in Switzerland , which sealed the final end of Overwatch. As a result, further Overwatch activity was made a criminal offense.

After Overwatch was dissolved, the economy recovered rapidly and the organization to reintegrate the omnics into the human world was able to operate undisturbed. But the mood changed after conspiratorial activities became known by some companies and the underground organization "Talon" eliminated the leader of the omnics. Another war seemed inevitable. In the midst of these chaos, the gorilla "Winston" (who calls himself "Scientist Winston") started a recall of all Overwatch agents to regroup against the evil in the world. In a museum robbery of the Talon organization thwarted by Tracer and Winston, the world learns of the newly recruited Overwatch members and has since placed its hopes in the group of heroes.

The background story of Overwatch is told and illustrated in animated short films, trailers, comics, short stories and blog entries. There is no campaign in the game in which the story can be re-enacted. Nevertheless, there were three events in the game in which at least parts of the story could be re-enacted in player versus environment mode.

Gameplay

The game is a pure multiplayer online shooter with no single player mode . Each of the two opposing teams usually consists of six players, but in some game modes such as the arcade mode, fewer players can compete against each other. Furthermore there is the possibility to compete in 1 on 1 duels against randomly selected players, or to play against artificial intelligence in different difficulty levels. There is also a game browser in which players can open matches with individual settings. Overwatch provides both text chat and a so-called voice chat for communication between the playgroup members . Each member can join such a channel, which is only intended for their own team, and thus communicate with their playgroup, in the case of voice chat via microphone . In Overwatch , every player sees and controls their hero, the avatar , from the first person perspective .

According to the class of the heroes, complementary skills are ideally represented in a team. It is also possible to change the hero at any time during the game in the start area of ​​a map. In the corresponding menu, the current distribution of the classes and their special abilities are displayed, and missing, such as healers, are pointed out. Often these changes are of a tactical nature and, as in the case of the so-called "counter-pick", serve to better neutralize a certain enemy hero. As with the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) genre, this creates a special dynamic. With the changes to the game principle announced in July 2019 and now published, it is no longer possible to switch to any other hero in the start area. Instead, the player selects one of the three roles of tank , damage or support before the start of the round and can then only switch to another hero with this role during the game. In the round itself, every role is represented by 2 heroes at all times.

Game mechanics and displays

The life points indicate the maximum amount of damage a hero can suffer before he virtually dies. Except for the heroine “Mercy”, there is no life regeneration without the use of (passive) skills. In addition to the normal hit points, which are shown in white, there are two special types: shield and armor. Shields are shown as a light blue bar in the life point display. Shields do not reduce incoming damage, but regenerate 30 points per second outside of combat for a total of three seconds. Armor is shown after the life points in yellow on the life point display. Armor has the special property of halving incoming damage below 10 points (e.g. the individual shots of the heroes "Tracer" or "Sombra") and reducing damage greater than 10 points by a fixed 5 points (e.g. from the heroes "Hanzo" or "Genji"). Armor can, with the exception of the armor packages given by the hero "Brigitte" (only with full / almost full life points), be replenished through healing and does not regenerate itself.

On the various playing cards there are so-called "health packs" at fixed locations, virtual objects, the collection of which restores the player's life points. The number of life points depends on the position of the object. After releasing life points, a health pack regenerates itself within a certain period of time and is then available again. The hero “Sombra”, newly introduced on November 15, 2016, can manipulate (“hack”) these objects in such a way that the regeneration rate increases and the health pack in question can only be used by allied players. Virtual objects for temporary damage reinforcements or improved protection do not exist, however.

Under the life point display there is another display for helpful actions. These are achieved for killing opposing heroes, restoring life points ("healing") to allies or successfully taking a location on the map. If these activities of the hero decrease as the game round progresses or if he dies virtual death, points are also withdrawn again. The display is only of a documentary nature, it has no influence on the rest of the game.

During the course of the game, (enemy) heroes can be identified visually as well as acoustically by means of specific noises assigned to them, the intensity of which also allows the spatial distance to be assessed. The use of so-called ultimate skills, i.e. H. Hero-specific abilities with particular efficiency, is accompanied by a special background noise (e.g. "This is your just punishment!" for the ultimate ability "Barrage" by Pharah), the volume of which is lower for members of the associated team.

If a hero dies in Overwatch , he is shown a so-called "kill cam". This repeats to the player from the perspective of the opponent how he killed his own hero. This killcam is controversial shortly after its release and especially in competitive mode, as it shows certain information that only the opponent can see. Above all, the display of the availability of the opponent's ultimate ability or the position of Symmetra's teleporter are some examples.

Game evaluation

At the end of a round, the game provides a certain situation as a so-called “play of the game” or “play of the match”. An algorithm selects a particularly crucial game situation that every player in the round sees again. The game then changes to a so-called “end card”, a points screen in which up to four players in this game are honored with special achievements. This ranges from “having dealt the most damage” to “having the longest target progress time”. Each of these players is shown with their performance on a card, which each player in the game can vote for. Voting does not affect the game or rewards afterwards. Following on from this, the player sees all statistics for this round divided according to the heroes played.

Especially with the Play of the Game, like with the Killcam, the "crouch" function was used more often. Players were mocked by using the button to duck in quick succession after an alleged play of the game or a kill over their corpses (so-called " teabagging "). In contrast, Blizzard has added a mini-patch to curb this practice.

In addition to the Play of the Game options, players on the friends list can also watch a game. This spectator mode has no delay and is therefore disabled for games in competitive mode.

Player Levels and Rewards

After completing a game, the player receives a basic amount of experience points . This is calculated based on the time spent in the game. In addition, the player receives an amount of experience points for the highest medal. The playing figure collects medals for achievements within the team (e.g. for most damage done). The rewards for the medal do not stack. For every win there is an additional bonus amount of experience points and a bonus on the first win of the day. These bonuses are only awarded on games that have not started as Free Games. The player needs a different amount of experience points for each level and receives a new graphic for the portrait with every tenth level (1, 11, 21 etc.). From level 101 the portraits start again at the start, but receive a star below that, from level 200 a second star up to level 600. From this point the portrait color changes and the player starts again at level one, but needs for each level still 20,000 experience points. Every 600 levels the portrait color changes from bronze to silver and gold to platinum from level 1800. Level 2400 (platinum, five stars, 100) is the highest level that can be displayed. However, it is possible to ascend further. In addition to the levels, each player can unlock certain achievements for extraordinary moves. These range from relatively simple to very difficult successes and grant access to certain “sprays”. Sprays, sayings and emotes are elements in the game that are intended to increase communication. Sprays can be attached to walls, sayings play back specific audio sequences tailored to the hero and emotes let the hero perform certain actions.

After a one-off purchase, the game offers the option of acquiring so-called “loot boxes” through microtransactions. These loot boxes contain skins, emotes, sayings, player icons and other cosmetic changes sorted according to certain rarity levels. With every level up the player receives one of these loot boxes. There are special loot boxes for special events. Duplicate content in loot boxes is offset by in-game currency, which can be used to purchase visual adjustments that have not yet been received. The in-game currency cannot be purchased directly through microtransactions.

Game modes and maps

In Overwatch there are 28 different cards (June 2019), for publication 12 end appeared a total of August 2016 appeared the first update with "oak forest". In January 2017 another card with the name "Oasis" was released. In June 2017 another card with the name "Horizon Lunar Colony" appeared. Most of the maps published so far depict different regions of the world. They are divided into real existing countries in which the player moves in a certain area of ​​a fictional city. Only one game mode can be played on each map. The game mode, which changes for each round completed, is determined by the map being played. A manual selection is not possible, with the exception of the user-defined mode. On the following maps the player can play the different game modes in Overwatch :

attack

This game mode is played on the “Temple of Anubis” ( Egypt ), “Hanamura” ( Japan ), “Horizon Lunar Colony” ( moon ) and “Volskaya Industries” ( Russia ) maps . Each map contains two independent areas that the attacking team must occupy by occupying. The first point becomes active after the game starts. The second point is only available immediately after taking the first point. A point is earned by having at least one player on the attacking team standing on that point. As soon as at least one defending hero is also in the area of ​​the point, the capture is interrupted. The progress expires as soon as there is no attacking hero in the area of ​​the target point for a certain period of time. Each goal is also divided into three goal-taking sections. These stages, shown in a circle, cannot be recaptured by the defenders after they have been captured. When three parts are reached, the destination is completely taken. The progress of the capture is shown by means of a bar for all capturing heroes. The attacking team wins the round by capturing both points. The defending team wins if it has prevented the attackers from taking target point 1 and then target point 2 for a certain period of time.

escort

The appearance of the “Dorado” map based on a city in Mexico is mistakenly based on the appearance of the Italian city of Manarola .

This is accompanied by the maps “Watchpoint: Gibraltar ” (Overwatch), “Dorado” ( Mexico ), “Junkertown” ( Australia ), “Route 66” ( United States ), “Rialto” ( Italy ) and “Havana” ( Cuba ) attacking team deliver a cargo to a certain destination. Both teams are trying to get control of the cargo. The cargo only moves when only heroes from one team are standing in the cargo area. The attackers try to move the cargo to a destination. The freight passes through checkpoints (two per card). From this checkpoint, the progress is saved and the attacking team is given additional time. The defending team can “push back” the cargo up to each checkpoint it has reached in order to slow down progress. The cargo travels a fixed route, which means that the defending team can cause problems for the attacking team by flanking them via certain routes. The position of the cargo is visible to the attacking as well as the defending team through buildings (by means of an outline).

control

This game mode is played on the maps “Lijiang Tower” ( China ), “Ilios” ( Greece ), “ Nepal ” and “Oasis” ( Egypt ) and “Busan” ( Korea ). The game mode involves conquering and controlling a point until a team has achieved 100% progress. The game mode is divided into a maximum of three rounds. The team that reaches 100% progress first on two points wins the game. There is no time limit for this mode. Earning of points begins when an allied hero is in the area of ​​taking after the point has become active. The progress is indicated by a progress bar. As soon as a hero of the opposing team gets to the point, the taking stops until only heroes of one team are on the target again. Once a team has captured the point, progress begins up to 100%. If an opposing hero gets to the point from this point on, the message "Contested" appears, but the progress continues to count up to 99%. This can only be stopped by the other team taking the target. Thus, the playing time is limited by the point earned. The round ends as soon as a team has reached 100% (and possibly the "overtime").

Attack / escort (hybrid)

This game mode is a mixture of the attack mode and the escort mode. It is played on the cards “King's Row” ( United Kingdom ), “Numbani” (roughly today's Nigeria ), “Hollywood” ( United States ), “Blizzard World” (United States) and “Eichenwalde” ( Germany ). At the beginning, the mode combines a point collection, which is structured as in the "attack" mode. The defending team benefits from mostly good defensive positions in this section. At or near the point there is cargo waiting to be escorted. As soon as the attacking team has captured the point as in the "attack" mode, the cargo becomes active and the second mode of the game starts. Now the attacking team has to move the cargo on a specified route and escort it to the final destination. Again, there are two checkpoints per card at which the progress is saved. From this part of the game, the defenders and attackers have a far more open map with various hidden paths. The attacking team wins as soon as the cargo (possibly after an "overtime") has reached the target point. The defending team tries to prevent this for a certain period of time, which increases with each successfully reached checkpoint. The maps on which this mixed mode is played have the largest playing surface.

In addition to these cards, on which the games are played 6-on-6, there are four special cards: “Ecopoint Antarktis ”, “Black Forest” ( Germany ), “Castillo” ( Mexico ) and “Necropole” ( Egypt ). This is used for the game modes Elimination 3-on-3 and in the duel 1-on-1, is smaller and has no goals.

Game types

Overwatch is played in different game types. Game types include training against the AI, quick search, ranked mode, arcade mode, and custom game. Training matches against the AI ​​are normal games on a 6-on-6 card. The own group is filled with other players, while computer-controlled heroes act in the opposing team. This mode is available in three levels of difficulty from easy to difficult. In addition to the matches against the AI, players can play individually against computer-controlled opponents or practice their own skills in the training area. The training match can be ended at any time via the menu.

In the user-defined game, even two teams with players or computer-controlled opponents can be put together. In addition, up to twelve spectators can join the round. Certain cards and heroes can then be selected via the settings. The founder of the game round can also make special settings, for example to allow “only headshots”.

Quick search

The quick search queue is the standard for a game in Overwatch . The player can enter the queue individually or in a group with up to five other players. The system fills its own team with randomly selected players if necessary. Likewise, the opposing team is filled with six random players. The system tries to bring the same number of groups and the same group size together. Once a game has been found, all twelve players are taken to the loading screen and then to the hero selection. There is no renewed query in the form of a so-called "absence check" at Overwatch . The quick search game can be ended at any time via the main menu without receiving immediate bans. As a result, the player receives fewer experience points for this game round. After a short time, the player will be replaced by another player in the quick search queue. If too many games are left out, automatic penalties can ensue. Overwatch developer Blizzard removed a feature in mid-2016 that allowed players to ignore other game accounts and not get back together with them in a game. This was intended as protection against so-called trolls , but was used, among other things, to ignore players who were simply better than you. In November 2016, Blizzard introduced a requirement to choose different heroes in quick search games.

Brawl and Arcade

The release of Overwatch there was the queue "weekly Brawl". There the rules of the game changed weekly, for example fixed heroes or random heroes after each resurrection. These weekly changing game modes were transferred to the new “Arcade” queue from November 2016. In this mode, the weekly brawls have been sorted into a sub-category and now contain all brawls. For each new game via the "All Brawls" queue, an existing brawl is randomly selected and played for the round. There is no indication of which brawl was selected. Within the arcade mode, in addition to the queues for 3-on-3 elimination and the 1-on-1 duel, the game modes for "surprise heroes" and "no restrictions" have been published. The 3-on-3 and 1-on-1 modes provide team deathmatch games in which the team that has completely wiped out the opposing team wins. With the surprise heroes, each player is assigned a random hero (as in the brawl) after death. The ultimate ability will be reset after each switch in this case. In the "no restrictions" mode, as with release, any number of the same heroes can be selected and played. In addition, one of the arcade modes is replaced by changing event modes.

Competitive game

On August 6, 2016, after announcing its release, Blizzard first introduced ranked games to fuel the competitive spirit of the game. Ranked games can only be played by players who have already reached or exceeded level 25. There is no limit to playing time per hero, as is the case with Heroes of the Storm . Ranked mode was initially only available for the PC version, but was later introduced for the console versions on Xbox One and Playstation 4. The competitive mode is divided into a total of four seasons per year. Except for the first season, which ended after 1.5 months, each season lasts 2.5 months with a one or two week break for necessary changes. Each player must play ten placement games at the beginning of each season, in which the system tries to fit the player into the appropriate rating. After the ten games, a so-called level of play is awarded, which can be between 1 and 100 in the first season. From season 2, the game level system was changed so that each player is placed between 1 and 5,000 points. With a ranking between 1-1499 you get the bronze rank, with a score of 1500-1999 you are in the silver rank with 2000-2499 gold, 2500-2999 platinum, 3000-3499 diamonds 3500-3999 master and with 4000 to 5000 grandmaster. In addition, game level ranks have been added that provide a visual mark in the profile and below the portrait (in ranked games) based on the level of play. From season 2, players with a level above 3,000 points must remain active, as the points expire after a certain period of inactivity. The 500 players with the highest level of play receive an additional icon as a level of play. The matchmaking system fills teams in a game with players who have about the same level of play. For the release of the game, several of the same heroes could be selected per team. In July 2016, a requirement to choose different heroes for the competitive mode was introduced. As of August 2019, a specific role has to be chosen before a competitive game begins. This choice cannot be changed during the game.

The basic rules of the game also remain the same in the ranked game. However, depending on the mode played, certain changes have been made to compare the level of both teams:

• Two rounds are always played on attack and hybrid cards (one round in the quick search). Both teams play as attackers and defenders. There is one point for each checkpoint reached or taken. If both teams have the same number of points at the end of the match, there was a knockout round in season 1 in which the attackers had to reach the first checkpoint or take the first point in a shorter time. From season 2 this principle was changed, in which the remaining time in a third round is used to get as many checkpoints or as much route as possible again. The team with the most points wins the game.
• On control cards , the game mode was initially expanded to include a best-of-five. Since the beginning of the sixth season, as in the quick search, the team that wins two rounds first wins.

At the end of a ranked game, the level of play changes immediately based on the outcome of the game. In addition, there is an extra reward in the form of game currency upon completion. This in-game currency is only available by winning (or even drawing) ranked games. At the end of a season, the player also receives a certain number of game currency based on his level of play. With this currency special “golden” weapons can be bought for all heroes. These weapons have no effect on the game and are only used for cosmetic improvement. Each participant in a ranking season receives unique sprays and player icons for the respective season.

Because competitive play was introduced for players who want to test their skills against others, Blizzard introduced special penalties and features for leaving the game. In contrast to quick search games, the system does not search for another player if a player leaves the match. Although the remaining players have the option of leaving the game without penalties after a certain time has elapsed, they still receive a defeat for this game with the adjustment of their level of play. Players who leave the game early cannot join a new game, but can reconnect to the previously started game. For a game that is left prematurely, the player receives reduced experience points and can receive a time-limited up to a permanent game ban for ranked games of the current season if they leave the game again.

Heroes in Overwatch

Cosplay of the Overwatch heroine Widowmaker at the "MCM London Comic Con 2016"

A hero is a certain fictional person with a fictional biography. He represents the player during a round in Overwatch . Through this, the player who controls the hero through peripheral input devices takes the game environment. It is similar to an avatar in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Overwatch heroes can only be customized by the player through unlockable skins.

A total of 21 heroes were revealed when the game was released. Since then, eleven more heroes have been integrated into the game (as of April 2020). Every hero in Overwatch has different skills. The abilities, except for passive abilities, usually have a cooldown after they are used. The ability to use the ultimate ability is shown in the scoreboard for the allied heroes.

roll

Every hero in Overwatch is assigned one of the three roles of damage, tank, or support. These roles represent the strengths and weaknesses of the heroes in the style of play that they possess within a given scenario. Each role has a different number of heroes. Each hero can only be classified in one of three roles:

• Damage: Your task is to get as many damage points as possible. They have various active as well as passive skills at their disposal.
• Tank: Tanks have a lot of life points and, in addition to their maximum life, receive a certain number of life points as armor or shield. Tanks primarily play the role of the first line (frontline) , for which they have different levels of ability to negate damage, such as Reinhardt's damage-absorbing shield as a secondary ability.
• Support: Support heroes have one or more healing abilities that they can use to support allied heroes. In addition, they have useful skills that protect the team from enemy sources of damage (such as Ana's “stunning arrow”) or make it difficult for the opponents to proceed (for example Lucio's pressure wave). They are mostly vulnerable to offensive heroes themselves and usually need self-supporting help from tanks or defensive heroes in order not to end up as cannon fodder.

synchronization

The following table compares the voice actors of the English and German dubbing with the respective heroes and non-playable characters.

synchronization
hero	English speaker	German speaker	publication
Ana Amari (support)	Aysha Selim	Martina Treger	19th July 2016
Ashe (damage)	Jennifer Hale	Nana Spier	November 13, 2018
Baptiste (support)	Benz Antoine	Sascha Rotermund	19th March 2019
Bastion (damage)	Chris Metzen	Chris Metzen	May 24, 2016
Brigitte (support)	Matilda Smedius	Regina Beckhaus	February 28, 2018
Doomfist (damage)	Sahr Ngaujah	Tobias Master	July 27, 2017
D.Va (tank)	Charlet Chung	Julia Meynen	May 24, 2016
Echo (damage)	Jeannie Bolet	Ranja Bonalana	April 14, 2020
Genji Shimada (damage)	Gaku Space	Yusuke Yamasaki	May 24, 2016
Hanzo Shimada (damage)	Paul Nakauchi	Bernd Vollbrecht	May 24, 2016
Junkrat (damage)	Chris Parson	Manuel Straube	May 24, 2016
Lúcio (support)	Jonny Cruz	Leonhard Mahlich	May 24, 2016
McCree (damage)	Matthew Mercer	Torben Liebrecht	May 24, 2016
Mei (damage)	Zhang Yu	Rubina Kuraoka	May 24, 2016
Mercy (support)	Lucie Pohl	Farina Brock	May 24, 2016
Moira (support)	Genevieve O'Reilly	Alexandra Lange	16th November 2017
Orisa (tank)	Cherrelle Skeete	Dela Dabulamanzi	March 21, 2017
Pharah (damage)	Jen Cohn	Ghadah Al-Akel / Silvia Missbach (change with PVE event "Uprising")	May 24, 2016
Reaper (damage)	Keith Ferguson	Torsten Michaelis	May 24, 2016
Reinhardt (tank)	In it De Paul	Gerhard Jilka	May 24, 2016
Roadhog (tank)	Josh Petersdorf	Milton Welsh	May 24, 2016
Sigma (tank)	Boris Hiestand	Richard Gonlag	13th August 2019
Soldier: 76 (damage)	Fred Tatasciore	Martin Keßler	May 24, 2016
Sombra (damage)	Carolina Ravassa	Lara Trautmann	15th November 2016
Symmetra (damage)	Anjali Bhimani	Sanam Afrashteh	May 24, 2016
Torbjörn (damage)	Keith Silverstein	Stefan Gossler	May 24, 2016
Training bot	Aaron Phillips	Aaron Phillips
Tracer (damage)	Cara Theobold	Luisa Wietzorek	May 24, 2016
Widowmaker (damage)	Chloé Hollings	Vera Teltz	May 24, 2016
Winston (tank)	Crispin Freeman	Matti Klemm	May 24, 2016
Wrecking ball (tank)	Dee Bradley Baker (Hammond) Jonathan Lipow (Mech)	Dee Bradley Baker (Hammond) Stefan Lehnen (Mech)	July 24, 2018
Zarya (tank)	Dolya Gavanski	Katharina Spiering	May 24, 2016
Zenyatta (support)	Feodor Chin	Frank Schaff	May 24, 2016
Athena (AI)	Evelyn Duah	Maria Koschny
Hal-Fred Glitchbot (Freight in Hollywood)	Travis Willingham	Klaus-Dieter Klebsch

technology

Overwatch requires a permanent internet connection to run multiplayer mode . After evaluating their skills, players are automatically assigned to other players by the online gaming platform Battle.net . Each player has a so-called matchmaking rating (Engl. For matchmaking rating , MMR abbreviated) based on the Elo rating . The MMR ensures that players always compete with and against other players of similar skill. Depending on your playing skills, you get or lose a variable number of Elo points at the end of a matchmaking game.

The PC version of the game has slightly different settings than the console versions. Since it is easier for the player on the PC to aim at targets using the mouse and keyboard, a so-called “aim assist” has been added for the console version. The software supports the player using this technique when aiming at targets. Due to the different networks and the different hero voting including the “aim assist”, the interaction of players between the platforms was not included. Each platform therefore has its own player base.

The PC version of Overwatch is equipped with Dolby Atmos technology and is the first game that can also play this technology through headphones.

Development and publication

development

In 2007, Internet users speculated in forums about a new MMORPG from Blizzard after certain job postings in this area were posted on Blizzard's website. Blizzard confirmed that the tenders are real and that the game will not be an expansion for World of Warcraft , but will form a completely new universe. In November 2010, a schedule was illegally published, which, among other Blizzard games, also depicts the game Titan with a release in 2013. In 2010, Michael Morhaime , CEO of Blizzard announced that Blizzard had learned from World of Warcraft and will use this knowledge for Titan . He also believed that Titan and World of Warcraft could be in the MMORPG market together, as Titan would open up an entirely new genre for the gaming industry. In March 2011, Blizzard confirmed that the game is already playable internally and is planned for the next ten years. In September 2012, about 100 developers were working on titanium .

On May 28, 2013 it was announced that the Titan team would be restructured. 70% of designers will switch to World of Warcraft , Diablo III and StarCraft II . In addition, the secret planned publication period was postponed. In August 2013, Morhaime confirmed that the game was going in a new direction and that it was normal for Blizzard to take its time with game developments. On September 23, 2014, it was announced that Project Titan was no longer in development.

"" We didn't find the fun. We didn't find the passion. We talked about how we put it through a reevaluation period, and actually, what we reevaluated is whether that's the game we really wanted to be making. The answer is no. "
'We didn't find the fun. We didn't find the passion. We've talked about how we can make the game new, we asked ourselves whether this is the game we really want to make. The answer is no. '"

- Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment CEO

Several game details emerged shortly after this announcement. So Titan should be an MMORPG and the action should take place on a future earth. Jobs were supposed to be done by day, while enemies had to be defeated by night. The game details were released by former Blizzard developers, but have never been officially confirmed.

Overwatch was officially unveiled at BlizzCon on November 7, 2014. Blizzard confirmed that many of the themes in Overwatch came from Titan and that the game evolved from Titan . So some cards and heroes were taken over from Titan . Initially, there was the consideration of offering the game as a free-to-play game supported by micropayments . This business model is also used in Blizzard's Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm . However, at BlizzCon 2015, Blizzard confirmed that the game will not be free-to-play as it would not technically work.

The closed beta started on October 27, 2015 and ended on April 25, 2016. Eight million people registered to participate by the beginning of 2016. The open beta started on May 5, 2016, for pre-orders on May 3, 2016, and ended on May 10, 2016. A total of 9.7 million players took part in the open beta.

publication

Overwatch was released on May 24, 2016. It is available as "Standard Version", "Origins Edition" and "Collector's Edition". The "Origins Edition" offers five additional hero skins in the game, as well as cosmetic additions for the games World of Warcraft , Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft , Diablo III , Heroes of the Storm and StarCraft II . With the pre-order of the Origins Edition you also received the hero skin "Noire Widowmaker", which had to be redeemed as an attached code and was not activated directly in the game. The Collector's Edition includes all the contents of the Origins Edition and also contains an illustrated companion volume, the official soundtrack and a statue of "Soldier: 76", which is 32.5 centimeters high.

Already at the release, Blizzard announced that a competitive multiplayer mode (a ranked system, similar to Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft ) will be integrated into the game, which was first available in the closed beta. Some improvements have been announced and adopted for final release. The competitive multiplayer mode was integrated into the game with a patch after the release on June 29, 2016.

reception

Criticism in the development phase

The portrayal of female heroes was discussed several times in the media. Already at the beginning of 2015 Die Zeit described the "muscular [...] soldier" Zarya as "an exceptional phenomenon", because her boyish appearance does not correspond to the common appearance of female characters in video games. At the beginning of 2016, a sexist victory pose of the heroine Tracer came under criticism, whereupon Blizzard made a revision.

Furthermore, problems with the distribution of class skills were reported before the start, which were considered to be unbalanced: some heroes appeared to be too overpowering. During the beta test phase, players also noticed problems with the design of the playing fields. Some of these contained so-called "bottlenecks", which could hardly be conquered due to the lack of circumvention options.

Reviews after publication

Meta-ratings Database Rating GameRankings 91.16% Metacritic 91 reviews publication Rating Computer picture games 1.45 Destructoid 10/10 Electronic Gaming Monthly 9/10 Game Informer 10/10 Game revolution 4.5 / 5 GamesRadar 4.5 / 5 GameSpot 9/10 GameStar 86 IGN 9.4 / 10 PC Gamer US 88/100 PC Games 88% Polygon 8/10 Spieletipps.de 91/100 VideoGamer.com 9/10

Overwatch received mostly positive reviews. The Metacritic website calculated a mean value of 91 out of a maximum of 100 possible points from 62 reviews, making the game above average. The GameRankings website also determined a rating of 91 percent of the optimum from just 38 reviews in the same way.

Most of the reviews negatively address the lack of game modes. With only three different game modes, the variety is too little on the total of twelve playing cards. In addition, there is the card design that was criticized in the beta test version. Some cards are too easy to keep for the defending group, while attackers without sophisticated tactics have no chance of winning the game. Too many victories would go to the defenders. Compared to the novelties of the team-based shooter Team Fortress 2 from Valve , Overwatch does not contain anything of the kind, which is why the game did not achieve an above-average rating in the GameStar . Only the large selection of different heroes is a major innovation.

" Overwatch is not reinventing the team shooter wheel, but is mixing established mechanics with one of the best representatives of the genre in recent years."

- Dimitry Halley, Petra Schmitz and Jürgen Stöffel : GameStar

According to Gamestar, the highly detailed heroes in their impressive fighting poses are already impressive on the game's start screen, and the timeless comic-like design is particularly impressive. Especially the animations of the heroes during the game are lovingly designed, but this is only noticed on closer inspection. It's just fun to try out every hero with their unique skills, says Dimitry Halley of Gamestar. The learning curve of the game is relatively flat, so that even beginners can easily find their way into the game - you learn more automatically from round to round. In addition, Blizzard managed to implement the handy controls almost identically on all supported platforms.

In general, Overwatch is an all-round successful shooter that can also inspire casual gamers and guarantees evening rounds of games with friends. Above all, the opportunity to advance the team by setting goals is praised. Overwatch is the first shooter to weight the killing of opponents and their support comparatively little and instead puts other goals in the foreground.

In addition, the short playing time is perceived as pleasant. Defeats are less of a consequence and the players are less upset with lost games. Although the game is designed as a multiplayer shooter and is also marketed as such, the lack of a single player mode or campaign stands out negatively in the overall view. In addition, the so-called matchmaking system is still in need of improvement, as it sometimes assigns individual players to full groups and thus overpowering opponents. Overwatch is very entertaining, especially in a group with friends.

"" Overwatch is an amazing experience. It's fresh and consistently fun, with matches that are great in random groups, but astonishingly good when played with friends. Blizzard has taken its masterful art of polishing and perfection to the team shooter, and things will never be the same. "
' Overwatch is a great experience. It comes out fresh and ensures fun for a long time. It's amazingly entertaining even with randomly selected players, but it gets really good with friends. Blizzard has transferred its masterful skills in terms of the finishing touches and perfection in the implementation to the genre of first-person shooters and thus set a new standard. '"

- Daniel Tack : Game Informer

Sales and player numbers

In the UK, the title reached number 1 on the sales charts in the week of its release, making it Blizzard's best-selling console title to date. Overwatch generated $ 270 million in sales in its first week of sales. This includes the sold digital versions of the game and the so-called loot boxes, with which in-game items can be purchased. For the period from January to November 2016 (the game wasn't released until the end of May) Overwatch reached number one on the sales charts worldwide with total sales (game content and game version) of 586 million dollars.

One week after publication, Overwatch had seven million players, after two weeks ten million. In August 2016, Overwatch reached over 15 million players. In total, around 500 million hours had been played in Overwatch by August 2016. This means that the game has reached more players than the other Blizzard titles during this time and has had more active players in its first year of sales than World of Warcraft had reached at peak times. In January 2017, Overwatch developer Blizzard published more player numbers. Accordingly, a total of 25 million players had played Overwatch at least once by the end of January. The figures were not broken down by platform.

In South Korea, according to Gametrics, a Korean market research institute that monitors user behavior in 4,000 Internet cafés, the previous leader League of Legends has become the most played game in the so-called PC Bangs . This success is partly justified by the fact that the game in South Korea does not cost any money due to the availability in the PC Bangs (except in-game items). At the end of November 2016, Overwatch lost this top position again.

Awards

The following table lists the awards in which the game was at least nominated.

year	Award	category	Result	EN
2016	Golden Joystick Awards 2016	Best original game	Won
		Best visual design	Nominated
		Best audio	Nominated
		Best multiplayer game	Won
		Best Gaming Moment (Play of the Game)	Won
		Game of the Year	Nominated
		PC Game of the Year	Won
		Competitive Game of the Year	Won
	The Game Awards 2016	Game of the Year	Won
		Best Game Direction	Won
		Best Art Direction	Nominated
		Best action game	Nominated
		Best multiplayer	Won
		ESports Game of the Year	Won
	Gamespots Best of 2016	The Best PC Games of 2016	Top 5
		The Best Xbox One Games of 2016	Top 5
		The Best PS4 Games of 2016	Top 5
		Game of the Year	Won
	Giant Bombs 2016 Game of the Year Awards	Best debut	Won
		Best multiplayer	Won
		Best game	3rd place
	Eurogamer Game of the Year	Game of the Year	Won
	Polygons 2016 Games of the Year	Game of the Year	3rd place
	PCGamers Game of the Year Awards 2016	Best multiplayer	Won
	Game Informers Best of 2016 Awards	Best competitive multiplayer	Won
		Best shooter	Won
		Game of the Year	Won
	Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2016	Best Original Score - Video Game	Won
	IGN Best of 2016 Awards	Best shooter	Won
		Best eSports Game	Won
		Best multiplayer	Won
		PC Game of the Year	Won
		Game of the Year	Won
	Slant Magazine: Top 25 Best Video Games of 2016	Game of the Year	3rd place
	Game Revolutions End of 2016 Awards	Best game	Won
	EGMs Best of 2016	Game of the Year	Won
	GamesTM's Game of the Year Awards	Game of the Year	Won
	The Escapist Awards 2016	Best shooter, multiplayer	Won
		Game of the Year	Won
	Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences DICE Awards 2016	Game of the Year	Won
		Action Game of the Year	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Animation	Nominated
		Outstanding Technical Achievement	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Game Design	Won
	Game Developers Choice Awards 2016	Game of the Year	Won
		Best audio	Nominated
		Best design	Won
		Best Technology	Nominated
		Best Visual Art	Nominated
2017	British Academy of Film and Television Arts	Best multiplayer	Won
2018	The Game Awards 2018	Best ongoing game	Nominated
		Best e-sports game	Won

Web links

Commons : Overwatch  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: Overwatch  - Quotes

• Official website

Individual evidence

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