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CultureOverwatch Is Making Big Changes To Keep The Meta ‘Fluid’
By this point, I would imagine that Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan is sick of talking about the meta. It’s a perennial topic among vocal portions of the Overwatch community and a near-constant source of consternation. The meta over-prioritizes certain heroes, say some people. It changes too slowly, say others, asking for MOBA-style solutions like hero picks…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 30, 2020 -
Blizzard Cancels Overwatch League Matches Over Chinese Coronavirus Fears
Blizzard has tonight cancelled all Overwatch League matches scheduled to take place in China for the next two months due to the country’s Coronavirus crisis. The company issued a short statement which reads: We have decided to cancel our February and March matches in China in order to protect the health and safety of our…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 29, 2020 -
EsportsOverwatch League, Call Of Duty League, And Hearthstone Esports Will Air On YouTube, Not Twitch
With Overwatch League season three set to kick off in just over two weeks, it was becoming a little conspicuous that we still didn’t know where it was going to air. Now we do: With its two-year Twitch deal now expired, Overwatch League is moving to YouTube. It will be joined by Activision’s new Call…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 24, 2020 -
Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan Has Some Thoughts About Overwatch‘s Meta
Ah, the meta. Sometimes OK, sometimes terrible, always there, it’s rare that it’s not a hot topic of conversation among fans of Overwatch (or, well, any online game), and a boring one at that. But when a prominent developer weighs in on the subject, that’s a bit more interesting. Jumping into a thread on Blizzard’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2020 -
EsportsCheck Out The Overwatch League’s Fancy New Designer Uniforms
Who needs commentators when the players look so good? The Overwatch League has teamed with legendary streetwear designer Jeff Staple to create an “authentic player kit” for each of the league’s 20 teams. It’s so fancy. The new kits, designed to bring the esports experience more in line with the traditional sports experience, are more…
By Mike Fahey Published January 16, 2020 -
EsportsOverwatch League Commentators Are Jumping Ship [UPDATE]
Watching professional Overwatch matches can be chaotic. At times, team fights look less like coherent, role-driven skirmishes and more like cartoon characters punching and kicking inside screen-eclipsing dust clouds. Commentators play a crucial role, making sense of the madness to both esports fans and the uninitiated mainstream audience Blizzard hopes to attract. But with season…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 13, 2020 -
EsportsHouston Overwatch League Team Decides To Move After New Neighbors Complain
Season three of the Overwatch League kicks off next month, and that means teams are finally gearing up to live and operate out of their home cities. The Houston Outlaws, unfortunately, have not received the warmest of welcomes from their neighbors. Houston Outlaws general manager Matt “Flame” Rodriguez said yesterday on Twitter that his team…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 10, 2020 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewSeven Games That Were Almost My Game Of The Decade
When people ask me to name my game of the decade, I pause. There are so many. I took away hard-won lessons from some of them, but over time, I’ve come to realize that those lessons were probably wrong. On a more or less annual basis, my game of the decade changes. This is not…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 3, 2020 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Greatest Game Trailers Of The Decade
The decade ends, history’s book turns another page, and you’ve still not finished playing The Witcher 3 for some reason. While the games of the past decade have left their marks, we can also remember the flashier side of things: trailers. Here are the best of the decade. Writing a list of best trailers feels…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 30, 2019 -
CultureCosplayShowcaseReal Overwatch Loot Box Opens, Reveals 100% Chance Of Marriage Proposal
I’m not sure what this says about the odds of a successful union, but it’s at least a very nice way to spend big on an engagement. When Gavin Carter—a producer on Fallout 3 and Halo 4—wanted to propose to his girlfriend recently, he didn’t want to do things the old fashioned way. Instead, he…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2019 -
CultureOverwatch Glitch Allows All Heroes To Fly
Unlike most first-person shooters, Overwatch is not opposed to allowing some heroes to fly. Pharah rockets up and bonks her head on the sky’s ceiling. Sigma soars above the battlefield on an invisible cloud of psychic energy during his ult. Zenyatta hovers and should never be allowed to walk. Real flight for everyone, though, is…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 12, 2019 -
CultureCosplayShowcaseOverwatch Voice Actors Hit BlizzCon Cosplaying As Their Characters
Back in March, we ran a little feature on Carolina Ravassa, the voice actor behind Sombra who spent a day cosplaying as the Overwatch hacker. That was at Katsucon, but for BlizzCon 2019, she was joined by two other cast members, Anjali Bhimani (Symmetra) and Matthew Mercer (McCree). Cosplayer Melanie Jasmine (below, left) made Ravassa…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 19, 2019 -
OpinionIn The Era Of ‘Live’ Games Like Fortnite And Overwatch, Sequels Are Changing
There was a time when a sequel meant something. I don’t mean that in a wistful, “back in my day” sort of way. I mean that it largely meant one thing: A separate, new game with a shiny “2” somewhere in its title. Then expansions blurred the line, and patches blurred it even more. Now…
By Nathan Grayson Published November 18, 2019 -
OpinionHBO’s Watchmen Is Better At Lore Than Most Games
Watchmen, the new HBO television series that we find incredibly intriguing, has a lot in common with some of my favorite video games. There is punching and costumes, damn good music, and a thoroughly imagined world that I want to spend a lot of time in. It also pulls off one of my favorite video…
By Joshua Rivera Published November 11, 2019 -
CultureOverwatch Stagnated Because Of Its Sequel, Says Director
Conspicuous is the word you might use to describe the lack of meat on Overwatch updates’ bones for the past couple of years. Seasonal events like summer’s Lucioball, fall’s Junkenstein’s Revenge, and winter’s Winter Wonderland have ground to such a screeching standstill that players don’t get excited about them anymore. What happened? Here’s a hint:…
By Nathan Grayson Published November 6, 2019 -
CultureOverwatch Director Says There Are Story Reasons For Saving The First Black Woman Hero For The Sequel
Overwatch currently has 31 playable heroes. One of them is a gorilla from the moon. Another is a hamster in a mecha ball. None of them are black women. This has led to a series of increasingly exasperated pleas from fans over the years, to little avail. Now, finally, Blizzard has confirmed the existence of…
By Nathan Grayson Published November 5, 2019 -
CultureThe Overwatch D.Va Gaming Chair Makes Me Wish I Still Sat In Gaming Chairs
Back before I was paralyzed from the chest down, I spent a lot of time working, playing, and napping in my Titan gaming chair from Secret Lab. My only problems with the chair were that it was not pink and it did not have a picture of a bunny on it. Well, shit. This D.Va…
By Mike Fahey Published November 4, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsOverwatch 2‘s New Modes Are Fun, But Play It Too Safe
Since day one, Overwatch’s existence has been marked by refinement. Balance changes, new heroes, player-made modes, events, role queue, and other additions have indelibly altered the game’s fabric, or at least switched up its stitching. Now it’s getting a sequel, an opportunity for truly foundation-rattling change. So far, however, Overwatch 2 feels like another refinement.…
By Nathan Grayson Published November 2, 2019 -
CultureOverwatch 2 Announced With Emotional Trailer
Blizzard has finally announced Overwatch 2, the next iteration of the developer’s massively popular first-person hero shooter. It’s a sequel with all-new maps, heroes and modes, including player-versus-environment modes and a new player-versus-player mode called “Push.” In the new announcement trailer, revealed today at Blizzcon, Overwatch heroes Mei, Winston and Tracer touch down in Paris,…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published November 1, 2019
