Overwatch players have become increasingly dissatisfied with its post-launch content. Over a year has passed since the addition of another hero, while rival titles have thrived exponentially.
Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch originally launched back in 2016 and is still going strong. Managing to permanently beat out potential rivals like Lawbreakers and Battleborn, the hero shooter has become a competitive staple.
Offering players a focus on communication and teamwork, Blizzard’s shooter has survived on the goodwill of its loyal fanbase. However, loyalty can only go so far.
Launching with 21 heroes out of the box, Overwatch has received an additional 11 heroes since July 2016. Yet, fans have begun venting their concerns as no new heroes have entered the arena since April 2020.
Paladins is thriving and players are noticing
The gaps between each hero initially weren’t as long. Unfortunately, as time marched on the wait for new playable characters has become significantly increased. Since April 2020, while Overwatch has ceased to introduce new heroes, rival shooter Paladins has thrived with additional 7 heroes in that time, as Overwatch streamer Hoshi pointed out.
That set some fans off into a debate about the two games, with frustrations from OW players about a lack of new stuff. “Overwatch’s lack of content caused me to start playing world of warcraft out of pure boredom,” said one.
Others pointed out that Overwatch 2 is going to have a story mode, so Blizzard’s focus has shifted to that game, leaving the original Overwatch behind and just cleaning up issues with bugs rather than brand-new content.
overwatch still better tho pic.twitter.com/aoFF95ebQg
— Hoshi (@HoshizoraOW) August 21, 2021
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While Paladins may boast a notably higher character count, some fans are concerned about the game’s reliability first and foremost.
Paladins has some annoying bugs though, it’s definitely not as polished or “professional” as Overwatch, and it’s obvious,” said one fan. “The thing about Paladins is that they care about quantity more than quality. So it’s genuinely nothing to be happy about when looking at the amount of champions they release,” added another.
I play both, have more hours on Paladins. The game really takes no skill because someone like me hardstuck diamond in OW, got GM in Paladins a lot sooner. Game is a lot easier and has plenty of bugs everywhere. Really doesn't matter if it has more champs when you can't even play
— Hmmm (@miguel41598139) August 21, 2021
https://twitter.com/paxlm_/status/1429345123075338242
“The abilities that the heroes have, combined with the lore and vibe of the game in general just made me like it so much,” commented user Cloud_Supreme when it came to Paladins’ approach to new content.
Blizzard Entertainment are currently working on Overwatch 2, though the next step in the franchise has encountered several delays since it’s first reveal. That could obviously factor into things, but it’s clear that Overwatch players just want to have more heroes.
