Overwatch 2 Reaches Over 25 Million Players; Schedules Double XP Weekend, And No Heroes To Be Reworked Until Season Two

Despite Overwatch 2’s problematic launch, from DDoS attacks to players' skins being unavailable and inaccessible, it looks like the game has finally entered a period of tranquility. Blizzard recently dropped a press release where they announced that the game has reached over 25 million players in its first 10 days and has a “daily player base spread near-even across EMEA, Asia, and the Americas that’s nearly triple the previous daily player peak from the original Overwatch.”

While impressive, it’s not too surprising. A significant factor in this is the game now being F2P, allowing a large audience of new prospective players to join and see if they want to stick around, or if they will be on their way to the next big thing.

“This is only the beginning—there are so many possibilities to explore in the world of Overwatch, and we cannot wait for players to experience everything the team is building for the live game,” explains Blizzard Entertainment’s President Mike Ybarra.

In regards to the rough launch, Overwatch 2 is gifting all players who log in from October 25 through the end of Season One the "all-new Cursed Captain Reaper Legendary skin and a Health Pack Weapon Charm." Players can also reap the rewards of the upcoming double XP weekends that will help both F2P players and those who purchased the Premium Battle Pass as well. Below are the dates for the scheduled Double XP Weekends:

• Starting October 21 at 11:00 AM PT, ending October 24 at 11:00 AM PT

• Starting October 28 at 11:00 AM PT, ending October 31 at 11:00 AM PT

• Starting November 24 at 11:00 AM PT, ending November 28 at 11:00 AM PT

Blizzard has also shared that it has been “happy to see that no hero’s overall power level is far out of line with our goals” and that Overwatch 2 will not be rebalanced until Season Two which begins in December. The comment is a bit shocking, as many players would probably have a few suggestions of a nerf or two alongside buffs to some other characters.

It’s not like Blizzard is completely unaware of changes that needed to be made, as their blog post does mention possible future changes to characters like Sombra whose entire kit was reworked which is causing her to be a pretty frustrating opponent. Thankfully, her hacking ability-lockout duration will be approached and possibly reworked come Season Two, but that is still not until December.

It would seem that as of now, every hero on the roster has a win rate between 45% and 55%, these stats being the primary reason for the wait until Season Two for specific changes to be balanced.

Note: Activision Blizzard is still under investigation by the state of California for serious harassment charges. CEO Bobby Kotick is alleged to have known about such actions within his company – and performed some himself – and shielded the perpetrators from consequences.