Overwatch. Is Blizzard spreading themselves too thin?

muffins89

I have been excited about overwatch for a bit.  But I kind of think blizzard is spreading their playerbase (at least potentially) too thin.  HotS is still pretty new (not including the beta).  I play HotS a few times a week.  But I myself will most likely jump ship to play overwatch.  I know they are different styles of games.  Sort of.  Do you guys think overwatch could potentially kill HotS playerbase?

bcbully

No. 

BeansnBread

They'll just add another million or two onto their playerbase.

muffins89

you're probably right @BeansnBread although if I didn't have battle.net installed I wouldn't know the game existed.

Loke666

Well, do do make more games nowadays but I woiuldn't worry thast they spread the playerbase too thin. If there is a problem it is that they after all have a limited number of talented devs and the more projects they work on at the same time the less talented people for each game so the quality can drop.

Blizzard have in the past had very few games in development at the same time after all, HotS did get somewhat mixed reception (particularly for a Blizzard game) but then again did not all earlier games turn out great either, only difference is that before Activision got in they usually scrapped things they felt might be a bit under the bar like Starcraft: Ghost.

The only interesting thing here is really if Overwatch is good enough or not, if it is a good game then releasing it is the right thing to do no matter when they released their last game.  If the quality got lower since they split the work between the 2 games (as well as Wow and D3) then it was a bad decision.

monochrome19

No.

FrodoFragins

They've done a good job of going after several genres.  WOW and HOTS will likely take a bit of a hit from Overwatch.  But HOTS will never be the eSport they want it to be anyway.

Shaigh

Blizzard is a company, not a genre. While there is some overlap between their games hots is point and click and overwatch is a shooter. I don't see them competing with one another.

Gretelda

it just goes to show they aren't completely devoting themselves to these titles. they put enough amount of time and money and manpower to make them good specially for Esports, but not beyond that.

i really hope they prove me wrong with Legacy of the Void.

bcbully

BeansnBread said:

They'll just add another million or two onto their playerbase.

There will be many million playing Overwatch think.

Lobotomist

Honestly Overwatch looks like real boring game. It does have the custom Blizzard coat of shiny paint. And it will most likely get players trough Blizz hype.

It certanly does not deserve it. Games like Dirty Bomb (quite similar)  for example are 100 times more fun.

Jonnyp2

Lobotomist said:

Honestly Overwatch looks like real boring game. It does have the custom Blizzard coat of shiny paint. And it will most likely get players trough Blizz hype.

It certanly does not deserve it. Games like Dirty Bomb (quite similar)  for example are 100 times more fun.

Yeah you're not biased at all.  Maybe overwatch will never get to the level of tf2, but dirty bomb?  100 times better?  Surely you are trolling.

shukolade

I like Overwatch so far, but it's not your typical "maingame". You play it probably an hour or two in between two dota sessions. 
It's an awesome TF2 clone and I am sure it'll be a hit, because blizzard knows how to copy pasta.

muffins89

FrodoFragins said:

They've done a good job of going after several genres.  WOW and HOTS will likely take a bit of a hit from Overwatch.  But HOTS will never be the eSport they want it to be anyway.

shukolade said:

I like Overwatch so far, but it's not your typical "maingame". You play it probably an hour or two in between two dota sessions. 
It's an awesome TF2 clone and I am sure it'll be a hit, because blizzard knows how to copy pasta.

@FrodoFragins - I don't know about that.  HotS matches aren't very long.  They hold my attention much more than say,  LoL or Dota2. 

@shukolade - I agree.  Overwatch doesn't seem to be a "maingame".  But to me HotS isn't either.  But,  anytime someone spends time playing it,  they aren't playing another game.  i.e.  HotS,  WoW,  Hearthstone,  Diablo,  StarCraft.  It could potentially take something away from those games.  Like players.

Warlyx

they have nearly every base covered , ARP , MMORPG, Cards , FPS , and RTS....

Wizbuiz

Humans are pack animals, and ppl follow the masses, unfortunately-  Blizzard is now leading the pack! fuck! 

Anthur

Skuall said:

they have nearly every base covered , ARP , MMORPG, Cards , FPS , and RTS....

This.
They now have a nice well rounded game portfolio covering the main game genres. And they concentrate for new developments on those genres which are prospering and assure the most profit in the future. Makes sense.

And answering the OP question: no.

RedAlert539

Don't think so. Hearthstone, HotS and Overwatch are fundamentally 3 different games. They're not of my liking but i can certainly see people playing all 3 of them. I know at least a friend of mine who will do so.
Not to mention he still has Diablo III installed in his PC:P

Kaneth

Anthur said:

Skuall said:

they have nearly every base covered , ARP , MMORPG, Cards , FPS , and RTS....

This.
They now have a nice well rounded game portfolio covering the main game genres. And they concentrate for new developments on those genres which are prospering and assure the most profit in the future. Makes sense.

And answering the OP question: no.

Agreed. It's also nice to see that they have a new franchise out of this and not just another rehash of their three main franchises.

I've watched a fair amount of Overwatch and Twitch the past few days and I really can't wait to give it a go. 

Ghavrigg

Why would it take away players? The games are all of different genre's and many people will be playing multiple Blizzard games rather than focusing on just one.

Xarko

Blizzard's been always good and making their games accessible for the widest range of players. Im sure this will be no different.

I understand why they went the ultra arcade flashy route, unfortunally Im kinda sick of that at the moment so will pass.

nbtscan

If anything they're diversifying.  They now have spaces in the MMORPG, TCG, MOBA, RTS, and with Overwatch, FPS.

FrodoFragins

muffins89 said:

FrodoFragins said:

They've done a good job of going after several genres.  WOW and HOTS will likely take a bit of a hit from Overwatch.  But HOTS will never be the eSport they want it to be anyway.

shukolade said:

I like Overwatch so far, but it's not your typical "maingame". You play it probably an hour or two in between two dota sessions. 
It's an awesome TF2 clone and I am sure it'll be a hit, because blizzard knows how to copy pasta.

@FrodoFragins - I don't know about that.  HotS matches aren't very long.  They hold my attention much more than say,  LoL or Dota2. 

I play HOTS casually but it lacks the depth/complexity to compete with LOL and DOTA2 as an eSport.  Getting rid of items makes it TOO casual for competition or attracting viewers.

SomeHuman

So when can I play an Overwatch character in HoTS and get his card in HS and the mount in WoW.   Mmmmmmm. Blizzard...good

Wizardry

No i have touched on it before,careless terrible spenders.
I am quite certain that every Twitch player i know is playing ALL the Blizzard games,talk about total fanbois.

I tried watching Overwatch,every single aspect fo the design is at least imo inferior to pvp i have enjoyed in the past.

One of my biggest peeves and the same reason i quit COD [well besides the cheating" was they introduced radar.I cannot stand radar,where is the fun in already knowing exactly where everyone is,that imo proves how bad Blizzard is at game design.You know when i grew up playing pvp we considered radar cheating now it is built into the game lmao ...sad.

Combat is unlimited ammo ..SPAM ....sad.Healing omg talk about lame design a little 3 year old could do it.

OW healer

Mikeha

When are they going to start making real games again?