Both Activision games and Blizzard games see a firm drop

Taking a look at the very last table in Activision Blizzard’s financial report for Q1 2023 on BusinessWire, there were 368 million monthly active users during the quarter, compared to 389 million in Q4 2022.

That might not sound like too much of a decline, but Activision and Blizzard games have taken quite a hit. The monthly active users for Activision games dropped from 111 million to 98 million, while those for Blizzard games were cut almost in half from 45 million to 27 million. Some of this isn’t too surprising, since most games lose a good portion of its userbase after launch, be it Call of Duty, Overwatch, or otherwise.

For wider context, the 45 million figure for Blizzard games last quarter was definitely a surge. Back in Q1 2022, there were only about 22 million monthly active users, so the launch of Overwatch 2 helped elevate interest. It’s a bit hard to tell whether the drop in activity for Overwatch 2 is to blame, though, since the active player count figures since the game’s launch have been quite consistent according to ActivePlayer.

Perhaps some of this overall drop for Activision Blizzard might be due to the successful Diablo 4 beta possibly grabbing players from Diablo 3 and Diablo Immortal, or an overall drop in player count for Warzone 2 and other Call of Duty games.

The post Activision Blizzard Player Count Drops by 20 Million Since Last Quarter appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver gameplay trailer

Lifeweaver’s abilities allow him to provide cover, dodge around quickly, grab allies to pull them out of precarious positions, and lift enemies out of the way. He utilizes “biolight” technology to do all of this.

It’s great to see a new Support character being added to the roster. Hopefully this encourages more players to try him out and feel more comfortable in the Support role. Healers are unfortunately pretty rare when solo queuing, so a new addition might hopefully shake things up a bit.

Players will be able to take on the role of Lifeweaver when Season 4 launches on April 11. He’ll be available to try for free in limited-time game modes or fully unlockable through the premium battle pass.

While waiting for the new season to drop, why not play one of the new PS Plus Essential games that have just dropped? And here’s our preview of the next big gaming release, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

The post New Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver Hero’s Abilities Showcased in Gameplay Trailer appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

How to get the Overwatch 2 x One Punch Man free Legendary skin

All players need to do is to play matches in any Unranked, Competitive, or Arcade game mode between now and April 6. A total of six free Overwatch 2 x One Punch Man rewards will be available with the free Legendary Mumen Rider-Soldier: 76 skin being the ultimate reward. Here’s how to earn those rewards:

• Saitama’s Fist Weapon Charm – play 4 games
• Mumen Rider Name Card – play 8 games
• Cyclist of Justice Victory Pose for Soldier: 76 – play 12 games
• Justice Crash Highlight Intro for Soldier: 76 – play 16 games
• Boros Weapon Charm – play 20 games
• Legendary Mumen Rider-Soldier: 76 skin – play 24 games

There will also be four bundles available from the in-game shop, each with its own price. These are the bundles available now:

• Doomfist x Saitama Bundle (2,500 Overwatch coins) – includes Saitama legendary skin, Training Regimen emote, One Hundred Push-ups voice line, Saitama Punch highlight intro, and Saitama name card
• Genji x Genos Bundle (1,900 Overwatch coins) – includes Genos Legendary Skin and Genos Name Card
• Kiriko x Terrible Tornado Bundle (2,100 Overwatch coins) – includes Terrible Tornado legendary skin, Terribly Impressive victory pose, and Terrible Tornado name card
• One Punch Man Mega Bundle (4,400 Overwatch coins) – includes all three of the above bundles

The post Overwatch 2 x One Punch Man Event Offers a Free Legendary Skin appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The Overwatch 2 Season 3 content and event schedule

Season 3 will begin on February 7 and will bring a host of new content. This will include a new Antarctic Peninsula Control map complete with an ice-breaker ship and an underground drilling station, and a Battle Pass that will include the opportunity to earn Overwatch Credits. The Battle Pass will offer four legendary and mythic skins inspired by Asian mythology, including the Amaterasu Kiriko mythic skin. Anybody who logs in during the first week of the season will get the first five free tiers of rewards automatically unlocked.

The first Season 3 event will be Ultimate Valentine from February 14-28 and this will feature a Cupid Hanzo bundle, a Hanzo 4v4 Limited Time Mode, and Support-themed challenges whose rewards include two epic skins. The day before on February 13, the Loverwatch Dating Sim will offer a 30-minute long text-based non-canon story that gives players the chance to date Mercy and Genji. Anybody who logs on during the Ultimate Valentine event will receive a Cupid Hanzo Player icon.

Also in February is the Overwatch World Cup 2023. A gold medal weapon charm will be given to anyone who logs in between February 7-20. This will then be followed by the One Punch Man limited-time event from March 7-April 6, the first-ever IP collaboration for Overwatch 2. This will introduce One-Punch Man skins and cosmetics, including the Saitama skin for Doomfist. Themed challenges will also offer a new Legendary skin.

Finally, the PachiMarchi event returns with a limited-time Kill Confirmed game mode between March 21-April 4. Rewards include an Epic Pachimari Roadhog skin, six PachiMarchi player icons, a weapon charm, and name card. Players will get a PachiMarchi Roadhog player icon for just logging in during the event. Most players will just be hoping for a reduction in the number of recycled skins.

The post Overwatch 2 Season 3 Roadmap Includes One Punch Man Collaboration appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Blizzard claims they’re listening to player feedback

While the Winter Wonderland and Lunar New Year events were new for players who never tried Overwatch, veterans found that the reward skins were recycled from previous years. Blizzard says they’ve “heard and understand the feedback” that veteran players have no incentive to take part in these events and they say they’re “working to offer rewards that are new for all players more consistently”. The bad news is that only one of the new Overwatch 2 Season 3 events will offer a new Legendary Skin as a reward. The good news is that in Season 4, “most of our big events” will have “new items” as rewards, although whether these items will all be skins remains to be seen.

Blizzard will also be reintroducing Credits as rewards. During Season 3, players will be able to earn 1500 Credits on the free Battle Pass track and a further 500 Credits on the premium Battle Pass track. With the standard price of Legendary Skins being reduced to 1500 Credits, the aim is that all players can earn a legendary skin from the Hero Gallery each season.

The post Overwatch 2 Season 3 Event Rewards Will Offer Only 1 New Legendary Skin appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

What next for Blizzard games in China?

Unable to find a new Chinese partner in time, Activision Blizzard offered NetEase an extension to their existing contract, which the latter turned down rather furiously. Late last week, NetEase employees were seen trashing a World of Warcraft statue outside their headquarters in Hangzhou, China. It’s unclear what really happened between Activision and NetEase.

Blizzard Entertainment games are quite popular in China. Millions of players have been left heartbroken and frustrated, according to a CNN report. Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, is full of players expressing their sadness and disappointment over losing access to their beloved games.

There’s no word on how long the games will remain offline. Activision Blizzard continues to look for a partner but has yet to find any offers that suit, and that’s presumably why it wanted to extend its partnership with NetEase despite things taking a turn for the worst.

The post Blizzard Entertainment Games Go Offline in China Indefinitely, Millions Affected appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

What are the Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year 2023 event rewards?

Players will be able to get a new 2023 Year of the Rabbit Player Icon just for logging in during the Lunar New Year 2023 event. There are also event challenges to be completed, and players get the Kkachi Echo Legendary skin from Lunar New Year 2021 as a reward for completing four of those.

Those interested in the Twitch Drops will get The Lion Roars Victory Pose for Moira for watching participating streams for two hours, with the Masked Dancer Moira Legendary skin from 2020 being the reward for watching for a grand total of six hours.

Fans have been left feeling like the event has been ruined. Reddit has complaints that there is “literally nothing new except for one 10$ recolor skin” and players are genuinely concerned about the quality of the game’s events moving forward. It seems like Blizzard learned little from the controversy surrounding the Battle for Olympus event after it was called the worst event in the franchise’s history.

The post Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year 2023 Recycled Skins Ruins Event for Fans appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Why is Battle for Olympus the “worst event in Overwatch history”?

One major complaint is the rewards. The main draw is the Winged Victory Mercy skin that has been available in Overwatch since 2017, so many players already have that reward. There is no replacement for players who own the skin already. This doesn’t give those players much of an incentive to take part.

While players do want to play the event with their friends, some of the main complaints are about the Battle for Olympus mode itself. The free-for-all Deathmatch mode makes just seven of the game’s Heroes available for selection — Junker Queen, Roadhog, Pharah, Lucio, Ramattra, Widowmaker, and Reinhardt — all with new skins. Some think the inclusion of four Tank Heroes is excessive, and plenty of players are making use of Roadhog’s overpowered skills without suitable characters to counter his actions, making the mode “boring and unbalanced“. Reddit users have called the Overwatch 2 Battle for Olympus mode “more like a workshop mode than an event” and “the worst event in Overwatch history“.

The post Overwatch 2 Players Call Battle for Olympus Worst Event in Game’s History appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

When does the Overwatch 2 Battle for Olympus event begin?

The latest Overwatch 2 event will begin on January 5, 2023. Battle for Olympus is a brand new free-for-all Deathmatch limited-time mode in which seven of the game’s Heroes will be available: Junker Queen, Roadhog, Pharah, Lucio, Ramattra, Widowmaker, and Reinhardt. The catch is that they’ll have reimagined abilities that channel the power of the Gods and players will need to master them if they’re to earn the rewards that will be on offer. Blizzard Entertainment is yet to clarify what those rewards will be, but you can see those Heroes and their new abilities in the trailer above.

The event runs for 14 days, therefore ending on January 19. When the event ends, the Hero with the most eliminations accumulated between players on the global leaderboard will get a statue in Ilios. Leaderboard updates will be posted on the game’s Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, and TikTok Stories.

The post Overwatch 2 Battle for Olympus Seasonal Event Begins This Week appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Overwatch 2 Gingerbread Bastion skin is at an unusually low price

Overwatch 2 skin prices have been ludicrously high since the game’s launch, costing as much as $20 for a single Legendary skin. While prices were reduced in November, many are still reluctant to pay 1000 coins for a Legendary skin. When Blizzard announced the Legendary Gingerbread Bastion skin would be on sale for just 1 coin, many players were surprised. Some even wondered if it was a mistake, but it turns out the offer is genuine and will be available until January 2.

The recurring Winter Wonderland event also introduces limited-time arcade game modes such as Mei’s Snowball Offensive, Yeti Hunter, Snowball Deathmatch, and Freeze-Thaw Elimination. Completing challenges will result in rewards like winter-themed weapon charms, sprays, player icons, and the Ice Queen Epic Brigitte skin. Finally, any player who logs in during the Winter Wonderland 2022 event will also get a Festive Wreath weapon charm and the 2023 player icon.

The post Overwatch 2 Players ‘Can’t Believe’ Low Cost of Gingerbread Bastion Skin appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.