First Day Of 'Overwatch 2' Beta Draws Over 1.5 Million Concurrent Viewers On Twitch

Overwatch 2, the sequel to the hit 2015 multiplayer game Overwatch, had a massive first day on Twitch with over 1.5 million concurrent viewers as the game entered its PvP beta.

Nearly three years after it was announced by Blizzard (to much controversy), Overwatch 2 has finally reached its closed beta stage, with former Overwatch streamers such as xQc and TimTheTatMan jumping in to try out the new game. Those who got their invitations to try out the game only got the chance to play its PvP mode, while the release date of the PvE mode, much advertised by Blizzard, has not yet been announced.

As selected streamers were dropping beta keys to viewers during their broadcasts, it's no surprise that Overwatch 2 managed to set a concurrent record for the category with over 1.5 million viewers.

About to get real!

Together we reached over 1.5M concurrent views, the highest day ever for Overwatch on Twitch. Let’s go! pic.twitter.com/bblWCahUYI

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) April 28, 2022

While Overwarch 2 is pretty much the same game at its core, there are also significant differences, such as the matches now being 5v5 instead of 6v6 with only one slot for a tank hero. The domination of tank characters has been a major gripe in the Overwatch community ever since the hero Bridgitte was added to the game's roster in 2018. The sequel also introduced the DPS character Soujorn, the first new hero in two years.

On Twitter, streamers and players have been sharing their first impressions of the game. Some seemed happy with how the sequel is turning out, expecting it to become as successful as Overwatch once was.

overwatch 2 is lit

— timthetatman👑 (@timthetatman) April 26, 2022

Overwatch 2 is genuinely a better game than overwatch 1 at its core and when the game fully releases it'll be extremely fun

that being said the beta is pretty underwhelming after like 3 hours of playing it

— Apply (@Apply) April 27, 2022

all the apex and valorant migrators coming back for overwatch 2 pic.twitter.com/in8sr8AHTq

— emily 1 (@emiyorii) April 26, 2022

Others were more skeptical, pointing out that the game is not that much different from the original to justify it being made in the first place — an argument that was being made ever since the sequel was announced back in late 2019.

Blizzard releasing Overwatch 2 pic.twitter.com/vLa94jlT3m

— 🔴 LIVE BikiniBodhi 🇸🇪 ❤️ 🇺🇦 (@BikiniBodhi) April 27, 2022

And some were there just for the keys.

Imagine everyone getting excited for Overwatch 2 and then not getting access tomorrow LMAO pic.twitter.com/uM43b0qOdC

— Chase (@ChaseOwO) April 25, 2022

Overwatch fans on April 26th when they don’t get an invite to the Overwatch 2 beta: pic.twitter.com/WM3y6XQmLv

— fuck it seominsoo (@fuckitseominsoo) April 24, 2022

Whether the game will be able to pull back its audience from VALORANT and Apex Legends remains to be seen, but one thing remains for sure:

overwatch 2 devs watching their game get datamined for 3D models for blender porn and nothing else pic.twitter.com/h9QwlAIm1C

— 😵‍💫 (@DAWGTHISUMBRA) April 27, 2022