Monitoring has officially reclaimed his throne and surpassed Marvel Rivals as the most played hero shooter on Steam. Originally launched in 2016 by Blizzard, Monitoring received a sequel in 2022 that replaced the original title, with new heroes and updated mechanics. The sequel's changes to the game's beloved formula received a mixed reception.
In December 2024, NetEase Games was released Monitorings fiercest competition to date, launch Marvel Rivals to great fanfare. Marvel Rivals was an instant success story that replicated Monitorings unique hero shooter formula with a group of Marvel superheroes making up its roster. As of February 2026, over 45 characters have been added to the game, with NetEase announcing Elsa Bloodstone as the next Marvel Rivals hero, scheduled to release on February 13.
Overwatch 2 players are not happy after the recent announcement of Marvel Rivals
Many Overwatch 2 players are unhappy after a recent announcement by Marvel Rivals confirming new heroes joining their roster in Season 1.
Overwatch officially surpasses Marvel Rivals
Blizzard's surprise Monitoring relaunch has seen the game go over Marvel Rivals in player count, with both its current players and 24-hour peak beating Marvel's competitive hero shooter. At the time of writing, Marvel Rivals has a current player count of over 70,000, while Monitoring has over 108,000 players. Overwatch's The 24-hour player peak is also noticeably higher, reaching an all-time high of over 165,000 players, while Marvel Rivals currently has a 24 hour player cap of just over 112,000.
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The massive increase in Overwatch's The player count comes on the heels of the game's biggest relaunch yet, with the title dropping the “2” in its name and rebranding as simply Monitoring. The sweeping changes include a redesigned user interface, giving players more information at a glance, along with new sub-roles that give each character class unique passive abilities, such as seeing players through walls or increasing the effectiveness of health packs. The game also introduced five brand new playable characters, including Emre, who first appeared in Monitorings comedic connections and Jetpack Cat, a character originally created early on Monitorings development that many fans have been asking for.
The relaunch of Monitoring also resets its seasonal progress, with a new Season 1 for the game's latest story, an action titled “Reign of Talon”. Season 1, subtitled “Conquest,” sees Overwatch overtaken by Talon's forces, seemingly led by Vendetta, the villainous character who recently made her debut in the game's 20th season. Players participating in the game's new season are encouraged to take sides in this battle, with each faction earning them in-game rewards at the end of each week. The game's new story will play out over the rest of the year over six seasons, with a new hero set to debut with each season.
Monitorings competition with Marvel Rivals seems to be heating up, with the two games introducing characters and mechanics that push them into the spotlight. Exciting new additions to the roster, as well as teases of rumored upcoming heroes like Cyclops and Ghost Rider (as hinted at via in-game dialogue from fourth-wall-breaking Deadpool himself) have kept the game's fan base eager for more, but Overwatch's surprise resurgence has seen the game's popularity reach heights it hasn't seen since the sequel's initial release.
The massive suite of changes, which include Monitorings director confirming a redesign for one of its newest characters based on player feedback indicates that the game's developers have been listening closely to fan requests. With the huge increase in the number of players in the game, it's safe to say that Monitorings fan base has overwhelmingly approved of these changes.
Even a day later, Monitoring has continued to maintain that momentum over Marvel Rivals. On Steam, Monitoring continues to trend well past 100,000 players, reaching a 24 peak of over 119k. Marvel Rivals, fresh off revealing Elsa Bloodstone for its second half of Season 6 update, came in slightly below that with over 112,000 users. Time will tell if this trend will remain in place, but it is clear that these two games will likely have a continued rivalry for quite some time.
- Released
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August 10, 2023
- ESRB
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Teen/Violence, Blood, Mild Language, Tobacco Use, User Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
Source: Steam DB – Overwatch (Steam DB – Marvel Rivals)
