Overwatch: how Blizzard redefined the first-person shooter

Overwatch, the new team-based first-person shooter from World of Warcraft developer Blizzard, has been out for less than 48 hours, but it's already fairly clear that the game is a hit. Its short, open beta, which concluded two weeks ago, was popular enough to spark a meme in the intervening period detailing all the things players were doing now they couldn't play the game (sample post: the person who drew all the Overwatch heroes as if they were bowls of lukewarm water). Then, on release day, the Overwatch subreddit briefly drew more traffic than the front page of Reddit itself, seemingly a result of users hammering refresh to find out when the servers were turned on. Speaking with Michael Chu, a senior game designer at Blizzard, it's clear that the fervour is no huge surprise. The company has a strong history of success in multiplayer games, from World of Warcraft to Diablo III, and drew inspiration from across the board in developing Overwatch.