Overwatch

Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan Leaves Blizzard

As of today, the man, the myth, the meme Jeff Kaplan is no longer a member of the Overwatch team—or Blizzard, for that matter. Blizzard made the announcement in a blog post today. Kaplan’s director’s chair will be filled by Aaron Keller, an 18-year Blizzard veteran who has worked on Overwatch and World of Warcraft.…

Anatomy Of A Perfect Overwatch Earthshatter

Overwatch League season four kicked off this weekend, with new players, a couple of fantastic upsets and a perfect, game-winning Reinhardt Earthshatter by Houston Outlaws player Myung-heum “Jjanggu” Cho. Two-time Overwatch League Champions the San Francisco Shock played the no-time Overwatch League nothings Houston Outlaws on Sunday. Traditionally, this is a one-sided match. The last…

Overwatch League Live Games Are Back, But Only In China

Overwatch League Homestands are back, kinda. Today, the Overwatch League announced Homestands—live match events—will be returning during the 2021 season, but only in China. “Due to improved health and safety conditions in China, we are excited to announce the planned return of live events to three cities during the 2021 season,” the announcement read. Live…

Korean Overwatch League Player Shares His Experience With Anti-Asian Racism In America

As opening day for the fourth season of the Overwatch League looms, Korean players on North American teams are dealing with the precipitous rise in anti-Asian racism. On April 5, Eui-Seok “Fearless” Lee, main tank for the Dallas Fuel, talked about his experience being Korean and living in America on his Twitch channel. “Being Asian…

Police Arrest Members Of “World’s Biggest” Video Game Cheat Company, Seize Luxury Cars

Chinese police have moved against a company billed as the “world’s largest” seller of video game cheats, arresting ten of its members and confiscating over $40 million worth of assets. As the BBC reports, the cheat sellers were operating under the name “Chicken Drumstick”, and sold cheats for everything from Call of Duty to Overwatch,…

Soon You’ll Be Able To Clip Overwatch League Highlights On YouTube

Today, the Overwatch League announced changes to the way fans can watch its streams. Last season, the Overwatch League drastically changed its viewership options switching platforms from Twitch to YouTube. The move was unpopular with fans as YouTube lacked many features that made Twitch viewership unique and engaging. On Twitch, you could earn tokens for…

Blizzard Isn’t Making Any More Skins For Overwatch League MVPs

After this year, the Overwatch League will no longer create special skins to honor the League’s MVP. Earlier today, the Overwatch League announced the release of two special Overwatch skins celebrating the San Francisco Shock’s second championship win and Byung-sun “Fleta” Kim earning 2020’s MVP award. But tucked into the announcement on the Overwatch League…

I, A Hater, Can Only Endorse One Of Overwatch’s Two Latest Limited Edition Skins

The fourth season of the Overwatch League is almost upon us which means it’s time to release a new MVP skin. Starting today until April 6th, you can purchase Echo’s Good vs. Evil skin made in honor of 2020’s Overwatch MVP—and my second-favorite Shanghai Dragon—Byung-sun “Fleta” Kim. Every year, the Overwatch League releases a skin…

Activision Blizzard Esports Announces Layoffs [Update]

Activision Blizzard Esports will lay off around 50 employees, according to a report released today by Sports Business Journal. UPDATE: Reports suggest the total figure of laid-off employees is actually closer to 190. The layoffs come as a cost-saving and restructuring measure, according to the company. While the company emphasized the pandemic as a cause…

Former Overwatch League MVP Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won Suspended Over Sexual Assault Allegations

Former Overwatch League MVP and current Valorant pro Jay “Sinatraa” Won was suspended from his team Sentinels today after being accused of sexual assault by a former girlfriend. In a Google Doc posted late last night to Twitter, Cleo Hernandez detailed emotional and sexual abuse allegations, including instances of coerced sex. In a nine page…

Overwatch Casually Rolls Out Xbox Series X/S Enhancements

Yesterday’s Overwatch update was all about the PachiMarchi Challenge and that hideous and/or awesome new Roadhog skin, but next-gen Xbox owners got a little something extra with the update: new graphics options for Series X/S consoles, from 4K60 to blazing-fast 120Hz. We were so busy worrying about how our Roadhogs looked we never stopped to…

Fans Can’t Decide Whether New Overwatch Skin Is Cute Or Horrifying

Today, Overwatch announced the PachiMarchi Challenge, the newest event celebrating the game’s weird half-onion, half-octopus mascot Pachimari. Starting today, players who win games in Quick Play, Arcade, or Competitive mode can win Pachimari-themed cosmetics, including a Pachimari Roadhog skin that is, depending on your inclination, either very cute or extremely unsettling. Watching the trailer feels…

After Almost Three Years Away, Returning To Overwatch Feels Amazing

I have a confession to make: Despite being Kotaku’s number one Overwatch fan, I haven’t played it myself in two years. But buffeted by my optimism for Overwatch 2 and being unable to get my Overwatch fix because Overwatch League won’t be back for another month, I decided to play again, hoping to recapture what…

The Overwatch 2 Panel Was Cool But Please, Give Us The Damn Sojourn Reveal

Judging from its complete absence from BlizzConline’s opening keynote, you’d never guess Overwatch 2 was part of the Blizzard family of games, much less in the works. Thankfully, watching the “Behind the Scenes of Overwatch 2” panel put to rest any fears that the game might’ve been forgotten. Led by lead designer Jeff Kaplan, the…

It Would’ve Been OK To Skip This One, Blizzard

Tonight’s keynote for BlizzConline, Blizzard’s virtual showcase, was a tepid hour of previously leaked reveals for World of Warcraft and Diablo, some Hearthstone news, a passing mention of Diablo Immortal, and no Overwatch 2. As we’re fond of saying these days, it could have been an email. To be clear: I get it. 2020 was an…

The Blizzconline 2021 Schedule Is Available And God, I’m Going To Miss The Overwatch World Cup

Blizzconline 2021, Blizzard Entertainment’s digital answer to their yearly in-person Blizzcon event, posted its schedule today. In addition to offering updates on the development progress for Diablo IV and Overwatch 2, Blizzconline also boasts a number of community events. Viewers can choose from Hearthstone streamer matches, arts and crafts tutorials, and an Overwatch League exhibition…

Bloomberg Report Details Major Dysfunction At Amazon Game Studios

You may know it as the Everything Store. But there’s one chunk of “everything” Amazon has failed to crack: video games. A new report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier and Priya Anand sheds light on why Amazon Game Studios, backed by one of the planet’s biggest companies, can’t seem to make a successful video game. The…

Bleeding Edge Ceases Updates After 10 Months, Ninja Theory Focusing On Other Projects

Ninja Theory announced today that it will no longer be updating Bleeding Edge with new content, though the game will remain playable on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Bleeding Edge, an online 4v4 action game, was released on March 24 of last year. Now, less than a year later, the game will stop…

The San Francisco Shock beat out the Shanghai Dragons, the Philadelphia Fusion, and the Seoul Dynasty to become 2020’s Overwatch League grand champions. This win is the second championship for the Shock and marks the first time an Overwatch League team has won back-to-back titles.

Overwatch will be free to play for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers October 13-20. This trial features everything the game has to offer, including the plethora of heroes and maps that have been released since launch.