Overwatch Now at Over 7 Million Players in First Week, Cheaters Already Getting Banned

It’s no secret by now that Blizzard’s Overwatch has been a huge success for the company. Just how big? Try seven-million-players-in-its-first-week kind of big!

Blizzard has announced this little fact and called Overwatch, “one of the most successful global game launches of all time,” and added that more than 119 million hours have been poured into the game at this point. Just to clarify further, Blizzard confirmed that the seven million player sum represents the “unique global player count,” and includes those who bought the game digital, physical and those who played the game in “Internet game rooms.”

Per the press release:

Over the months and weeks leading up to release we saw a lot of love and support for Overwatch—from Blizzard gamers, FPS fans, and people who’d never picked up a game like this before—and we’re very grateful for everyone’s incredible passion and enthusiasm,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We poured a lot of effort into creating a game—and a new universe—that anyone could enjoy. We’re ecstatic to have had such a successful launch, and we’re looking forward to all of the fun, competition, and new content still to come.”

Since launch, players have swapped heroes 326 million times and teamed up to deliver 11 million payloads to their destinations on the battlefields of tomorrow

In comparison, the Overwatch beta managed over nine million players across all platforms. Comparing nine million to seven million, that’s not a bad figure given, y’know, the beta was free to everyone.

In other Overwatch news, Reddit users have reported that Overwatch cheaters are already being banned from the game by Blizzard — a fact the publisher has announced even before the game became available. Here’s a screengrab of what email awaits you once Blizzard catches you cheating in Overwatch.

Overwatchcheatersemail

Another Reddit user has reported that so far, no one has yet to beat Overwatch’s anti-cheat program, and even highlighted how one person can get multiple accounts banned. Sucks to be a cheater, right?

In case you haven’t tried Overwatch, go check out our review to see what the fuss is all about. And as someone who’s quite addicted to the game, I can tell you right now that it’s just sheer fun with no penalties to late players whatsoever, which is refreshing.

Do you know anyone who got banned for cheating in Overwatch? What excuse did they make up? Share ’em in the comments.

[Source: Business Wire, Polygon, and Reddit via Gaming Bolt]

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