Last year, just over two months after release, Overwatch became the fastest selling PC game in China. This year, it has achieved a new milestone.
According to analyst Daniel Ahmad from Niko Partners, Overwatch has successfully sold over five million copies in the country since release. The figure takes into account sales conducted through both Blizzard and NetEase.
Diablo III previously held the honor of being the fastest selling PC game in China. With the beginning of the new year, Overwatch has widened the gap between the two games even further.
The overwhelming success in China is a great achievement for the game for various reasons. Firstly, as we have come to see, it is difficult for a paid title to get so much traction. However, the massive media hype surrounding the game since its release proved to be immensely helpful for sales. Secondly, the Chinese video games market is mostly dominated by mobile games. Overwatch breaking that mold is an achievement in itself.
The colorful shooter released on May 23 last year for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. In just a couple of weeks, it reached 10 million players across all platforms worldwide. In October, the player-base crossed 20 million players. Last month, Blizzard officially confirmed the number to be over 25 million globally.
Judging from the numbers, Overwatch took four months to double its player-base from 10 to 20 million. On that metric, the popular team-based shooter should have recorded at least 30 million players this month.
Does that mean its growth has stagnated in the past months? Some in the community might believe so. Regardless, the game is going to see a mighty surge in its reach when Blizzard finally inaugurates the previously announced Overwatch League in the third quarter of this year.
