At 5pm BST on October 3rd 2022, the last ever games of Overwatch 1 were played on live servers, and it was time to say goodbye Overwatch 1.
Now we’re in the limbo between what’s been and what’s to come, with Overwatch 2 to launch today (October 4th at 8pm), UK Overwatch caster and Esports News UK writer Jace is here to look back at some of Overwatch’s best, worst and unforgettable memories.
THE BEST OF OVERWATCH 1
Overwatch has been through so many big changes in its cycle already. Role lock, Goats (the team comp of three tanks and three healers) or even way back in the day with its no hero limits, these have all provided great memories.
But the game was at its most popular and vibrant during the first five seasons of competitive play.
Nostalgia will play a heavy hand in most people’s opinion on the best era of Overwatch. The game was fresh, it was one of the more level playing fields of any FPS game ever.
If you came from WoW, tanks were there for you.
Did you play Quake? Lock Pharah and airshot people till they disconnect.
“The first year of Overwatch was never stale, it was constantly adapting and, as players grew in skill, the game gave them new metas and heroes to figure out.”
And of course, FPS traditionalists had Widowmaker, Soldier and Cassidy to play with.
This amazing combination of unique skillsets in an FPS hadn’t been done before. Overall, the first year of Overwatch was never stale, it was constantly adapting and, as players grew in skill, the game gave them new metas and heroes to figure out.
My only major criticism of this time was due to the lack of overall knowledge for the longest time. There seemed to be only one accepted way to play the game. Anyone outside of that ideology was deemed a troll, too bad to play the “meta” or toxic for holding the lobby hostage. So individual expression and hero mastery was unsurprisingly low.
THE WORST OF OVERWATCH 1
I’ll be honest. It wasn’t Goats. That might be a hot take. Even if we disregard the time period I will be discussing, I still think there is worse.
I’m gonna label this as the dark age or the night-time hours of Overwatch. So, when was the sleeping era of Overwatch?
After Overwatch 2 was announced (news first broken by Esports News UK, might I add – Dom), there was an incredible hype for the game. Then it was revealed that it was actually in its premature dev stages. Later, they announced they were ceasing all production on Overwatch to focus on the sequel.
This lasted for well over 15 months, maybe even 18. Just to really set the scene, from around early 2021 lasting until Overwatch’s very last full day on October 2nd 2022.
There were no new heroes, and maybe a major balance patch once every four months. They added two new deathmatch maps, and that was it.
“The game saw a mass migration of players and an exodus of interest. Blizzard built up this amazing sequel so players came back to play the current one out of hype, and it was an awful experience.”
Now I understand it was for the greater good. It was a sacrifice. However, the game saw a mass migration of players and an exodus of interest. Blizzard built up this amazing sequel so players came back to play the current one out of hype, and it was an awful experience.
Ladder has been plagued by Hitscan cheaters, Roadhog onetricks and boosted wrecking ball players for the last year and a half. Tank was as unfun to play against as it’s ever been. Damage heroes had a small time in the sun before being outclassed by every other role as usual. Support players, well… They’ve been left like a sunken voyage for years at this point.
(We couldn’t have a ‘bad’ section of Overwatch 1 without also mentioning declining viewership – Dom)
THE UNFORGETTABLE
By Dom Sacco
For us here at Esports News UK, we’ve had some memorable Overwatch moments in UK esports.
First of all, in mid-2018 London Spitfire won Season 1 of the Overwatch League. Yes they had an all-Korean roster and have an American owner in Cloud9, but so what? It was great to see this achievement and the early days of the Spitfire with UK agency Code Red Esports. Even Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, wished the Spitfire good luck.
Speaking of London Spitfire, please don’t remind us of the 2021 Overwatch League season and their one win, or the time they were told by Atlanta Reign ‘it’s not coming home’ which preceded England’s loss in the Europ finals. Things have thankfully improved since then. And let’s not forget the Spitfire’s now-axed academy team British Hurricane, who went a perfect 7–0 in 2019’s Season 1 of Contenders in Europe.
Overwatch has had a good impact on the grassroots esports scene in the UK, with collegiate tournaments via Digital Schoolhouse and British Esports, not to mention LANs at the likes of Insomnia Gaming Festival and university competition with NUEL and NSE.
The UK national team, 7 Lions, did pretty well in a few Overwatch Worlds Cups, and we’ve had some decent Overwatch broadcast talent over the years too, like Legday and Jaws, and content creators such as Stylosa and Valkia, and players from Boombox to Fusions, Hybrid and more.
And let’s not forget the early days of numlocked, moving from League of Legends to Overwatch as a player, and caster Excoundrel’s wrestling-style intro to an old ESL UK Overwatch Prem match. Those were the days.
Now, activities around Overwatch 2 are coming thick and fast. Here’s an Insomnia community night as one example:
So long Overwatch 1, let’s hope Overwatch 2 will bring more memorable moments in UK esports in the future.
