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Esports
Overwatch‘s Top 500 Has An Alternate Account Problem
During a recent stream, professional Overwatch streamer aimbotcalvin pointed out four different accounts in the game’s top 20 competitive ranking list that he said belonged to him. Viewers got angry and said he was hogging slots that other deserving players could occupy. “Earn it,” he replied, laughing. Aimbotcalvin isn’t the only Overwatch player with multiple…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 18, 2017 -
EsportsOverwatch Players Are Actually Embracing Moira
It takes Overwatch fans mere minutes to churn out fanart for each newly-released character, but a few long weeks or months to welcome them into their competitive mode teams. But for maybe the first time ever, Overwatch’s newest hero, the mad scientist Moira, has been immediately accepted into the game’s competitive community with wide open…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 18, 2017 -
CultureThe Internet Reacts To Hanzo’s New Skin
Overwatch fandom is split on Hanzo’s new skin. Love it or hate it, they can’t stop drawing it and talking about it. Hanzo’s new skin for the Overwatch winter event was inspired by a single panel in last year’s holiday comic, “Reflections.” Some fans were hoping it’d be closer to that illustration, or at least…
By Gita Jackson Published December 14, 2017 -
Top Symmetra Player’s Overwatch Bans Won’t Stop Him From Picking His Favorite Hero
“Report him,” an Overwatch playersaid over team chat last week, referencing a Twitch streamer who goes by Stevooo. It was right after Stevooo hastily locked down the hero Symmetra. In text, the player then politely asked all 12 of the match’s players to report Stevooo “for poor teamwork.” Another player responded: “I did 5 times…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 13, 2017 -
Orisa Gets Puppy
The new Overwatch holiday event, Winter Wonderland, has begun. ‘Tis the season for new skins and emotes, now with puppies (!!!). This event’s smorgasbord of skins sees everybody ready to frolic about in the wintery weather… except Junkrat, who looks like he just got back from an excruciatingly long day at the beach, or a…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 12, 2017 -
Esports
What We Liked And Hated About Overwatch League Preseason
Blizzard’s Overwatch League is maybe the most ambitious American esports league ever, and its preseason wrapped up this weekend. The Compete staff, with an assist from our one blogparent that we’re still on speaking terms with, breaks down what went well last weekend and what can be improved for the regular season. The real matches…
Maddy Myers & Eric Van Allen & Nathan Grayson Published December 12, 2017 -
The New Ready Player One Trailer Is Filled With Video Game, Anime, And Comic Book Characters
The first Ready Player One preview had loads of cameos and pop culture references, so it’s no surprise that the latest one does, too. As previously pointed out, the new trailer features Chun-Li and Overwatch’s Tracer. There are also other cameos, with characters from games, anime, comics and more showing up. Let’s have a look!…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 11, 2017 -
Culture
On The Origins Of Sombra
Ben Zhang is a concept artist at Blizzard, where he’s worked on small, unheralded indie projects like Hearthstone and Overwatch You can see more of Ben’s work at his ArtStation page To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 10, 2017 -
Esports
Overwatch Pro Blasts Enemy Team Into Oblivion With Moira
Seoul Dynasty’s Ryu Je-hong is one of the best flex and support players in the world, and he showed that much and more in last night’s Overwatch League match against the Houston Outlaws. Moira, the newest addition to Overwatch, hasn’t been making too much of a splash in the competitive scene. But on a control…
By Eric Van Allen Published December 9, 2017 -
Soon, All That Will Matter In High-Rank Overwatch Matches Is Whether Your Team Wins
Overwatch’s competitive mode has been a source of much wailing, gnashing of teeth, and flogging of one-tricks since its inception, and it’ll probably remain that way until the end of time. On the upside, Blizzard is taking aim at two of its biggest issues. In a new forum post, principal designer Scott Mercer announced that…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 8, 2017 -
Esports
What It’s Like To Watch Overwatch At A Bar
Yesterday marked the official beginning of Overwatch League, Blizzard’s official multi-million dollar pro Overwatch proving ground. To celebrate the occasion, a San Francisco bar called Brewcade played a couple preseason matches on a big screen. Self-described Deadspin “doofus” Patrick Redford and I ventured there to see how the experience stacked up against watching The Big…
Nathan Grayson & Patrick Redford Published December 7, 2017 -
Overwatch Gets Yeti Boss Fight
The holidays are upon us, and you know what that means: new Overwatch stuff. And also family and celebration or whatever, I guess. In a new video update, game director Jeff “It’s Beginning To Feel A Lot Like” Kaplan announced that the game’s Mei-focused holiday event is returning. It’ll include everything from last year—skins, the…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 7, 2017 -
The Best Overwatch Feeling Is Hooking A Tracer
If Overwatch had a sequel that was just Roadhog grabbing Tracer with his chain hook, I’d pay a whole $40 for it. Snagging Overwatch’s Roadrunner, pulling her in and head-shotting her is the best feeling in Overwatch Roadhog and Tracer are like the tortoise and the hare. Roadhog isn’t very mobile; he can’t dash, teleport…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 5, 2017 -
Esports
Philly’s Overwatch League Team Has Pulled Out Of The Entire Preseason
The Philadelphia Fusion, the Comcast-owned Overwatch League team, just pulled out of their pre-season matches, citing “player logistics issues.” The Fusion had been scheduled to play the debut match of the OWL pre-season against the Florida Mayhem tomorrow. Blizzard has announced that the San Francisco Shock will be replacing the Fusion in tomorrow’s match. You’d…
By Maddy Myers Published December 5, 2017 -
Esports
Overwatch Gets Separate Currency For League Skins
The moment Blizzard announced team-specific Overwatch skins as part of its effort to make the game more watchable, it was pretty much inevitable that they’d become available to the game’s skin-starved general populace as well. You won’t be unlocking them the normal way, though. In a video released today, OWL commissioner Nate Nanzer explained that…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 4, 2017 -
EsportsOverwatch‘s Doomfist Kinda Sucks, So Thank Goodness For Patches
Five months after his release, it turns out that Overwatch’s villainous, terrifying hero Doomfist kind of sucks. Barely anybody wants to play him competitively and, frankly, that makes sense: His beat-em-up playstyle doesn’t feel like a great fit for Overwatch’s cartoonish first-person shooter world. Yesterday, Blizzard finally announcedthat they’re tweaking the hero so, hopefully, he’ll…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published November 30, 2017 -
Overwatch‘s Little Onion Octopus Has Become A Sensation
Some Overwatch fans might argue that the first-person shooter’s darling isn’t any of its heroes. It may be an onion-headed cephalopod that, initially, was nothing more than an innocuous background object. In the year and a half since Overwatch’s release, Pachimari’s fandom has outshone some of the games’ actual heroes’. In Overwatch’s early days, Pachimari…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published November 29, 2017 -
What Happened When The Guy Who Remixes Overwatch‘s Jeff Kaplan Met Jeff Kaplan
When Dinoflask first started making comedy videos of Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan, he never could’ve imagined he’d one day be surprising the man himself to celebrate his 15th anniversary at Blizzard. Heck, he could barely believe it right before it happened. “I was like, ‘it’s definitely a scam,’” Dinoflask said of the moment he got…
By Nathan Grayson Published November 27, 2017 -
EsportsOverwatch Pro’s Mid-Match Suspension Raises Questions About Blizzard’s Reporting System
Félix “xQc” Lengyel was playing a competitive Overwatch match last night when suddenly, he was booted from the game and informed his account had been banned or suspended—an action that’s sparked discussion over false reporting. Lengyel was mid-match when it occurred, leaving his teammates down a player after the punishment was placed on his account.…
By Eric Van Allen Published November 18, 2017
