Valorant Vs Overwatch | Is Valorant Better Than Overwatch?

VALORANT and Overwatch share a similar vibe and aesthetic. They might be totally different in what it is they actually offer, but they tend to attract the same kind of audience, thanks to both of them boasting a unique art style and a host of ‘hero’ characters. There’s a valid debate in ‘VALORANT vs Overwatch’, and it has run since VALORANT was first released in 2020, emerging onto the scene and making a considerable impact.

Now, despite being fairly different games, there’s a huge comparison piece there that sees people ask questions like, ‘Is VALORANT better than Overwatch?’ There’s a lot of debate regarding the value of either game, whether one has more players than the other, and which has the brighter future. So, if you’re wondering whether you should start playing VALORANT or Overwatch 2, we’ve put together a guide that helps you understand the comparison piece between the two.

VALORANT vs Overwatch 2 Player Count

Firstly, we should stress that it’s not ‘Overwatch’ anymore, technically. In 2022, Overwatch 2 was released, and owing to the game’s operating model, it wiped out the first Overwatch game. There’s now no way to play ‘Overwatch 1’, and it’s all about the sequel.

If there’s one metric that people use to compare two games – especially multiplayer games – it’s the player count. There’s validity in determining which game has the most players, and it’s one of the first things that people look at when trying to decide which game might be better. However, it’s tough to arrive at a reliable figure, as so few sites have access to the API that contains player data.

Both Riot Games (VALORANT) and Activision Blizzard (Overwatch 2) restrict the data that they reveal.

It was estimated by some platforms that during the month of May 2023, the numbers looked something like this:

• Overwatch 2: 18.9 million active players
• VALORANT: 19.5 million active players

Sadly, there’s no real way to verify if these numbers are accurate, and it’s almost impossible to get a representative example from any one platform or launcher.

VALORANT vs Overwatch Characters and Gameplay

If there’s one thing that drives both the VALORANT and the Overwatch ecosystems, it’s the characters that players can assume control of. There’s a wide range of characters available in both games, all boasting unique powers, abilities, roles, and aesthetics that players are simply drawn to. From robotic constructs to mysterious, realm-shifting women, and from huge, mechanical men to animalistic warriors, both games have their fair share of unique characters.

It’s these characters that essentially form the basis of the gameplay. With each character, players have a different experience, and their role changes depending on who they play as. In both games, there will be support characters, ‘attack’ characters, healers, long-range fighters, and those that do better when they get up close and personal. It’s mostly a subjective thing in the VALORANT vs Overwatch debate, as the choice of who to play as is ultimately up to the player themselves.

There are some characters in both games that are more popular, though. When it comes to ‘pick rates’, knowing which characters are more popular and effective is the key to finding success in both the VALORANT betting and Overwatch betting markets. It must be stressed that VALORANT enjoys a much more vibrant betting scene, but Overwatch 2 can still hold its own.

Hanzo and Sova: The two bowmen

VALORANT vs Overwatch – The Esports Potential

VALORANT enjoys a much more vibrant and populous esports ecosystem than Overwatch 2. It has been built for esports, and that means it’s competitive at its very foundation. There’s an Overwatch 2 esports scene which is powered by the OWL – the Overwatch League – but it’s simply not as big as VALORANT.

Technically, VALORANT capitalised on the success of CSGO – which is the biggest esports game in history. It has often been said that VALORANT is a fusion between CSGO and Overwatch. It links together the gameplay elements of CSGO with the hero model of Overwatch. That’s why it has become so popular as an esports game. It effectively dominates many other games in the space, despite being one of the ‘youngest’ titles in the business.

In terms of esports viewership, VALORANT does so much better on a general scale. In 2022, the VALORANT Champions Tour hit a peak viewership of 1.5 million users, but the Overwatch League peaked at just 437,000 viewers by comparison. By 2023, according to escharts.com, Overwatch had seen 426 tournaments played out on the platform. By stark contrast, VALORANT had seen 1930 tournaments play out by the same time – and that’s despite VALORANT being four years ‘newer’ than Overwatch.

Updates and Growth

So, in the grand VALORANT vs Overwatch debate, it seems that the discussion is steering in one direction, right? We’ve established that VALORANT boasts more players on a monthly average and it has a more popular esports scene. It’s also important to stress that VALORANT is estimated to have more players despite only being available on PC platforms.

For the launch of Overwatch 2 in 2022, the game pivoted to a free-to-play model, dropping a price tag but introducing a battle pass. Sadly, with the game now being so much easier to obtain, the number of cheaters in the game skyrocketed, creating problems for Activision Blizzard. But, a steady string of updates delivered in line with the game’s growth meant that the problem was somewhat mitigated.

There are plenty of updates coming thick and fast for both games, with new maps, characters, weapons, and skins emerging all the time. There’s no real edge in comparison between the two – they’re relatively similar in this arena.

So, is VALORANT Better Than Overwatch?

Everyone thought Overwatch 2 would be the ecosystem’s saviour, but it turned out to be quite a lacklustre update. It harmed the game, and there’s no doubt about that. By comparison, VALORANT has just gotten bigger over time, and nothing the developers have done has really hurt the game’s player count. Having only been released in 2020, VALORANT is still growing – and it’s doing so at an alarming rate.

By comparison, Overwatch is on a decline. It was in 2016 that the first game was released, so millions of players have come, experience the game, and gone again.

So, when settling the debate between VALORANT or Overwatch 2, we’d have to give the win to VALORANT.

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