'Overwatch' Makes $585M On PC Because It's The Best

Overwatch brought in $585 million in PC sales, according to a report from SuperData Research obtained by VG247. Impressive stats, considering the entire PC market is worth about $5 billion. That doesn’t account for console sales, either, which total in the millions and millions. Of course, these titanic sales figures aren’t news to any of the millions of players who continue to play the game since they already know what the numbers show: Overwatch is the best.

Start with Metacritic. Overwatch currently sits at 90+ across all three platforms. Then there’s the GOTY buzz. It already won GOTY at The Game Awards, arguably the most publicized awards show in the gaming industry. But it’s also the leading GOTY candidate in most major polls, too.

When it first launched a lot of naysayers were trying to label it a Team Fortress 2 ripoff, but the subsequent marketing and fan service have gone well beyond anything Valve has done with TF2 in recent memory. Just this week, Blizzard released a holiday comic that revealed Tracer is gay/bi, literally the face of the brand. It was a bold move given the political climate and potential blowback ahead of the holidays (Russia banned the comic, for instance) but also shows the sheer ballsiness Blizzard can have with an IP like this. It’s a massive, massive hit and people are hooked. It’s hater-proof.

The burgeoning competitive scene, alongside the rabid fanbase and well executed special events, will certainly keep Overwatch hot and relevant for much of 2017, too. And instead of getting greedy, Blizzard is sticking to the plan of free, fun updates that regularly retool characters and gameplay. New maps and characters are on the horizon, and that’s not even the tip of the hypeberg considering a single-player mode would give fans joygasms so strong they’re capable of escape velocity.

In the much-maligned year of 2016, Overwatch is giving gamers a bright spot to focus on. Here’s to hoping it does the same in 2017, too.