Overwatch has now surpassed 35 million players across all platforms, developer Blizzard has announced. Confirmation comes by way of the shooter’s official Twitter, in which it affectionately thanks the “bunch of misfits and freaks” that have helped it go from strength to strength since launch last year.
In August 2016, just three months following its release, Blizzard announced that Overwatch‘s current player count had already surpassed 15 million, with a further update in January of this year putting the total figure at around the 25 million mark. Assuming the trend continues, there’s every chance it could close 2017 out at an even 40 million.
All things considered, then, there’s no denying Blizzard’s team-based brawler isn’t popular, but exact sales numbers are – and likely forever will be – still forthcoming, so it’s not entirely clear how much of that total figure is down to various trials that Blizzard’s held over the last several months.
Free weekends are the perfect opportunity for Overwatch to attract some new blood, but for veteran players, it’s the limited-time seasonal events, free characters and maps that keep them coming back time and again. So far this year, two new heroes, Orisa and the long-awaited Doomfist, as well as the Oasis and Junkertown maps have made it into the live game, free for all who purchased the base title.
In regards to the here and now, Halloween is in full swing, bringing with it, as usual, a slew of new skins for existing characters, as well as a specially themed Hero Brawl: Junkenstein’s Revenge. The latter is the same event as last year, so if you’re wanting a primer before taking on the co-op PvE brawl, see here for all the details.