Overwatch 2 still has a pretty massive and dedicated player base after the release of Marvel Rivals. It’s not like the shiny new hero shooter has completely killed Blizzard’s game. However, the exodus of the game’s biggest streamers has made a considerable mark, with peak OW2 viewership being halved month over month.
This is made even worse by the fact that Hazard, the new Overwatch hero, had his full release in December. Despite being well received, his launch (and the launch of Season 14 as a whole) has been drastically hampered by the release of Rivals.
Even with new content to try out in Overwatch 2, including their limited-time Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover and some free Winter event skins, Overwatch has rapidly bled viewership.
Though the game still has its dedicated streamers and isn’t a slouch in terms of eyes on the category, Marvel Rivals’ impact on Overwatch is noticed most in this area.
Marvel Rivals takes massive swipe at Overwatch 2’s viewership
Overwatch 2 having a dip in viewership when Marvel Rivals came out was expected. Considering how much hype was behind the game at launch, it makes business sense as a creator to try and capitalize on the new game that’s garnering attention the moment it comes out.
However, Marvel Rivals has been out for around a month at the time of writing, and most of Overwatch’s biggest creators haven’t looked back.
A look at the game’s statistics gives a damning look at just how much viewership has dropped off.
According to Streamscharts, Overwatch 2’s average viewership has gone from 28k to 18k between November and December, which is a pretty significant drop.
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But the peak viewership is the real number that stands out, with it falling from 125k down to 64k peak viewers month-to-month. And, if it wasn’t for December Twitch drops, that peak would have been even lower.
New Twitch Drops are here just in time for the holidays! 🎁🦌 Reindeer Orisa🎄 Ugly Sweater: 76👩🍳 Gingerbread Ana✨And SO much more!Earn up to TEN holiday rewards by watching your favorite Twitch creators now through Jan 7 ☃️ pic.twitter.com/H5ZQZHtpHl
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) December 21, 2024
If we count out the viewership boost from these event drops, the next highest peak for that month was 48k viewers. Meanwhile, Marvel Rivals’ peak viewership for the month of December is 275k, and it’s stayed high even when drops weren’t available. There isn’t even a contest here, and it’s not surprising that streamers are sticking around.
People like Flats, Emongg, Eskay, Necros, Aspen, and bogur who were already successful in Overwatch have seen massive channel growth as a result of this game’s release.
Eskay is one of the biggest success stories, with her viewership having essentially doubled since the game released. bogur also had breakout success, going from a previous all-time peak of 3400 viewers to 20k with Rivals. He doesn’t even have to torture himself by one-tricking Lifeweaver for a month to garner interest anymore, he can just play the game and see natural growth as a streamer.
Why go back to Overwatch 2 and get less viewers if Marvel Rivals is fresh, fun, and more profitable?
Bear in mind we’re looking at solely Twitch viewership here as well, not even factoring in the massive uptick across most creators’ YouTube channels as well or the overnight success of players like TeamCaptain.
And, while this doesn’t mean OW is dead by any means, it shows that NetEase’s hero shooter is here to stay. Overwatch 2 will have to start thinking up methods of winning players back quick, especially since Marvel Rivals is on track to have more heroes than OW2 before 2025 ends.
