Overwatch 2 Beta viewership breaks records, but draws criticism

The Overwatch 2 Beta has recently come out of its closed phase, and players are now free to play it. Content creators started broadcasting the game to massive interest as fans are getting a good look at the game. The title has been a bit of a hit on Twitch, probably thanks in no small part to the introduction of Twitch drops for beta access.

Recent streams for the game have sent the title way above where it normally sits. The Overwatch 2 Beta viewership has broken the game’s current record for views on Twitch.

Overwatch 2 Beta breaks viewership record

The Overwatch 2 Beta viewership has just broken the previous record for the game on Twitch! Within two hours of the beta becoming public, the game had 469,000 viewers. This is quite a bit above the game’s prior records. Overwatch has an okay following on Twitch, with some content creators and former pros regularly streaming. However, it rarely tops the charts in terms of viewers, even with big events going on. It has especially dropped off recently as the first game was left unchanged for a while.

The viewer numbers for the Overwatch 2 beta are a great boost for the game. However, it might not have been entirely down to excitement over the release. A good portion of the viewing figures was probably down to xQc. He’s one of, if not the, most popular streamers on Twitch. Whatever he decides to play, he normally drags to the top of the streaming charts. He’s been revisiting the game that kicked off his recent career with the Overwatch 2 beta which is responsible for a good chunk of that viewership spike.

While a few big streamers definitely contributed, it’s clear these numbers show a big spike in interest in the game once again. The Overwatch 2 Beta viewership numbers even beat out previous viewership for the Overwatch League. Its previous peak in Twitch numbers was the first day of the Overwatch League’s first season. This figure is now broken, as the new beta blows that record out of the water.

Has Enough Changed?

The new beta for Overwatch 2 has brought quite a bit of attention back to the game. However, to some, this might not seem like the biggest change from the original title. Some players have criticized the beta as not being as much of a change as they anticipated. Although, to others, the change in format along with changes to characters are enough to make things feel fresh.

Not everyone is going to be happy with a beta. Those expecting more changes may be happier with a later version of the game. While the Overwatch 2 beta viewership records are being broken, this beta is more linked to the OWL. This build of the game is being shown off publicly, but it is more to allow the League to get something stable to use for the upcoming season than to specifically show off the sequel. It still feels a bit early to be claiming there’s not enough content, with the final game still a bit of a mystery.

The Overwatch 2 beta viewership records look promising for the title. While big streamers bring in a lot of those numbers, that’s the case all over Twitch and it’s hard to take away from a beta release beating out one of their biggest esports’ events in viewers. While not everyone is enthusiastic about the beta so far, things are looking promising for the new season of the OWL and the sequel in general.