Gaming
Tired With Dive Meta, Overwatch Streamers are Moving on to Different Games
When Dive Comp first broke on the scene of competitive Overwatch, it was a refreshing, quick change of pace to counter the triple tank meta. More supports were considered meta, and formerly off-meta tanks Winston and D.Va saw their viability increase drastically. That was months ago, however, and without any significant changes to the way the game is played, players are bored of it. No one more, apparently, than Overwatch streamers, who are leaving the game in droves.
Overwatch’s popularity, like many games, isn’t necessarily held up by its pro scene, but its streamers. While they may not be the best or most competitive of the community, steamers like Seagull, TimTheTatman, moonmoon, and DSPStanky combine for tens of thousands of viewers each day. This is so important for newer games, especially those trying to launch a multi-million dollar esports league. The meta got stale for many players months ago, but streamers powered through and didn’t care too much about it. However, putting as much time into the game as they do, a lack of any serious change has forced them to drastically reduce the time they play the game.
TimTheTatman has been a major figure in the Overwatch community since launch. His skill drops him at the lower end of streamers, but he brought over a large fan base from his time on Twitch before the game released. In post on his twitter, he wrote: “commenting on OW, I’m just at a point where I’m done with the current spot its in… this season between dive meta and what seems to be an increased amount of 1-tricks/people ‘not caring’ about their elo it’s just become frustrating.” He also spoke further on his boredom with the meta on his stream. Losing Tim’s viewers to competing games like PUBG or Rainbow Six is a huge blow to Overwatch’s presence on Twitch, as Tim was consistently the top viewed stream every night.
The proclaimed “Reddit Lucio” DSPStanky has also felt burnt out with the game, and announced he will be transitioning to a variety stream in the coming months. “Long story short,” he wrote, “I’m going to be moving away from Overwatch in the coming months. I can feel my own personal enjoyment of the game fading, and also I think my relevancy to the scene has run it’s course as well.” DSPStanky broke onto the Overwatch scene with his Lucio montages “King of Swing” and “Vindication.” He doesn’t pull the amount of views that Tim or Seagull do, but since his arrival he’s been a huge name in online communities. Losing him is another major blow to the game.
Many streamers seem to be going the way of moonmoon, who has been tired of the game for a while now. He hasn’t made any statements about leaving the game, but he’s been integrating many more games into his stream as of late, moving away from his daily ten-hour Overwatch streams. Moon brings close to 10,000 viewers per stream, so Overwatch lost another major streamer with his departure. Most of his viewers are bored with the game as well, so he has really no reason to stick with it. If they’ll watch him play something else, it seems like a win-win. This is the case for most streamers, and is Blizzards biggest problem. They need to get popular players interested again to get the fan base back into the game.
Seagull’s position is most interesting. He’s certainly the most popular Overwatch streamer, but he also plays professionally. He’s currently taking a break from professional play, and his more consistent stream schedule has seen great success (he peaked at 40,000 viewers at one point, at Doomfist’s PTR release). As arguably the most well known player on the competitive scene, his dedication to Overwatch is highly important for the longevity of the game. However, he recently commented on-stream about taking a break from the game. “Ow ranked has become really frustrating this past season… Where basically you just have one tricks every game. It feels like no one really cares about winning anymore.”
On any given night, Seagull, moonmoon, TimTheTatman, and DSPStanky combine for around 25,000-30,000 viewers. While many will simply switch to another Overwatch streamer (the most popular recently seems to be AimbotCalvin), most will stick with them and watch whatever they play. This drop in viewership is disastrous for the upcoming Overwatch League, as hardcore fans will not keep it alive on their own. Blizzard needs casual viewers to be interested enough in the game to watch it professionally. This is especially true in the case of Seagull, because if he ends up playing in the OWL, many of his viewers will follow him. If he’s getting less viewers because he’s not playing Overwatch, there will be less people to follow him.
Many of these streamers got popular playing Overwatch, so of course they’ll eventually come back. It says a lot about the current state of the game, however, if it’s most popular players are swearing it off.
Gaming
CEO of Helldivers 2 commends the remarkable determination displayed by the community during the intense Sony showdown
The experience for Helldivers 2 players has been quite turbulent lately, and we’re referring to a community that is accustomed to leaping from great heights into the most intense and terrifying battlegrounds imaginable. In the midst of a highly debated PSN account requirement for PC players and facing intense backlash, Sony has made a surprising reversal, yielding to the overwhelming force of public opinion. The CEO of Arrowhead, Johan Pilestedt, has displayed an intriguing attitude throughout this challenging period. He has shown remarkable composure, actively engaging with community managers and experiencing the difficulties they face firsthand.
Pilestedt expressed his admiration for the community’s determination and praised their ability to work together on Twitter, following Sony’s reversal. He sarcastically expressed gratitude towards Sony for their “prompt and efficient choice to make PSN linking optional.”
In the future, Pilestedt expressed his vision of working closely with PlayStation and the players to establish a groundbreaking benchmark for the concept of a live game. The aim is to foster a strong partnership between developers and the community, ultimately resulting in an unparalleled gaming experience.
Firstly, I am impressed by the willpower of the @helldivers2 community and your ability to collaborate. Secondly I want to thank our partners and friends at @PlayStation for quickly and effectively making the decision to leave PSN linking optional. We together want to set a new… https://t.co/2rayksgH1v
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 6, 2024
What are your thoughts on the commotion surrounding Helldivers 2? What are your thoughts on Sony’s involvement, Pilestedt’s attitude, and the community’s reaction? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Stellar Blade is an exceptional game that demands your attention. However, it truly reached new heights after the review embargo was lifted, thanks to the introduction of New Game +. In our review of Stellar Blade for the PS5, we found that one minor drawback was the inability to replay the game. Unfortunately, during the pre-launch period, this author had to start over from the beginning.
Thankfully, none of you will have encountered that problem since the title was updated just hours before its release to include the highly anticipated New Game + feature. This new game+ mode is truly exceptional. As expected, all of your abilities and unlocks carry forward, but the Korean developer has gone above and beyond by expanding Eve’s skill tree with new abilities.
The addition of these new abilities doesn’t exactly revolutionize the game, but it does introduce some fresh tools to your arsenal, ensuring that the gameplay remains engaging. Combine this with some clever enemy placement variations, and you’re practically guaranteed an enjoyable replay. In addition, all of the Exospines and Gear that you unlock in New Game + receive upgrades, enabling you to craft even more powerful builds for Eve.
Additionally, the number of outfits has been doubled. The skins in the game offer a variety of designs, with some featuring unique custom details. Unlocking all of them again adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the experience. In our comprehensive guide, we have meticulously cataloged all the different outfits and their corresponding unlock methods. So, even if you haven’t quite reached the highly anticipated New Game + stage, you can still get a sneak peek at what lies ahead by following the link provided.
Our only critique of the mode is that the difficulty scaling could be improved. You may find yourself becoming seriously overpowered, even in hard mode. Feeling an immense sense of power is undeniably satisfying. However, it would be even more captivating if Shift Up were to delve deeper into these concepts and introduce additional difficulty levels for New Game +, thereby enhancing the game’s replayability.
It would be great if the developer could consider adding additional modes to enhance replayability. A speed run option could add an exciting element to the game. Rarely does a campaign exhibit the level of tightness and replayability found in Stellar Blade. Shift Up has truly crafted something exceptional, leaving us eager for additional content to be added as the release continues to evolve.
Have you begun your new game + playthrough of Stellar Blade yet? What are your impressions of the mode, and are there any other post-release additions you would like to see implemented? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Helldivers 2 proved to be a surprising success, highlighting the unpredictable nature of the gaming industry. As per Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, it currently ranks as Sony’s seventh highest grossing game in the United States to date, trailing behind a trio of Spider-Man titles, a couple of God of War games, and Ghost of Tsushima. It’s only been on the market for less than three months and is not even being sold at full price.
According to Piscatella, a significant factor contributing to the game’s success is its release on PC. He mentioned that, based on Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker, the game has consistently ranked first in terms of active users on Steam in the US since its launch, including April. The release of Helldivers 2 on both PlayStation and PC has been an extraordinary triumph.
He stated that Helldivers 2 has already become the seventh highest-grossing Sony-published game in history. Without a PC, it would not currently be considered one of the top 20 games. While I’m emphasizing the success of the PC SKU, it’s important to note that I’m not disregarding the success of the PlayStation SKU. I just wanted to clarify that. This launch has proven to be incredibly successful.
Prior to the release of Helldivers 2, Sony made it clear that they would be launching their live service-style titles simultaneously on both the PS5 and PC. The success of this approach will undoubtedly strengthen their strategic vision. It will be intriguing to witness if the company reveals official sales figures in the near future, as the title appears to be one of the platform holder’s most successful sellers to date.
- Gadgets9 years ago
Why the Nexus 7 is still a good tablet in 2015
- Mobile Devices9 years ago
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Galaxy Note 5: is there room for improvement?
- Editorials9 years ago
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 – How bad updates prevent people from enjoying their phones
- Mobile Devices9 years ago
Nexus 5 2015 and Android M born to be together
- Gaming9 years ago
New Teaser For Five Nights At Freddy’s 4
- Mobile Devices9 years ago
Google not releasing Android M to Nexus 7
- Gadgets9 years ago
Moto G Android 5.0.2 Lollipop still has a memory leak bug
- Mobile Devices9 years ago
Nexus 7 2015: Huawei and Google changing the game