Overwatch could be the biggest competitive game in South Africa

Overwatch, Blizzard’s new hero shooter, was released on 24 May 2016 and has been warmly received by critics across the internet, racking up a collection of stellar reviews.

The game’s launch has been absolutely massive, with the title gaining a large player base in a relatively short amount of time.

Gamers and reviewers have praised Overwatch’s potential as a competitive game, and the title may just end up being the next big game in the eSports scene.

Competitive Play

Overwatch included a ranked competitive game mode during its Closed Beta test, but removed the feature before the official launch of the game.

In response to player feedback, Blizzard plans to implement a completely re-worked version of the ranked mode featured during the Closed Beta, which will appear “sometime in June”.

The addition of a functional, balanced ranked game mode could have a large effect on Overwatch’s rising popularity.

Tournaments and Twitch

The popularity of competitive eSports is usually measured by the size of tournaments and prize pools, with events such as Dota 2’s International or CS: GO’s ESL One boasting massive amounts of prize money and extensive coverage.

These games are among the favourite competitive games of eSports fans, and compete fiercely for the most viewers on Twitch.

However, Overwatch has maintained a massive viewer count on Twitch after its release, with the majority of viewers spectating competitive tournaments.

Despite not having a Ranked mode yet, and the fact that most Overwatch players lack the amount of experience enjoyed by other professional players, there have already been various tournaments for the game – with some offering prize pools of up to $10,000.

Overwatch could make for a fresh and exciting new competitive eSport if the initial interest in its competitive scene remains strong.

Overwatch for South Africans

Overwatch has an extremely well-optimised netcode – according to this developer update:

This means that our usual 200ms latency to European servers does not affect gameplay nearly as much as it would in games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or League of Legends.

Hit accuracy is registered client-side, and I have not noticed any major latency issues due to playing on European servers. South Africans gamers could finally be able to enjoy a competitive game without suffering from latency-dependence.

Local gamers will also be able to compete against international players and enter global online tournaments, an opportunity which bodes well for the South African eSports scene.

If the netcode argument holds up and allows South African gamers to compete on international servers, the increased accessibility could mean massive growth in our competitive gaming community.

If you’re interested in playing Overwatch competitively, there are a couple of local weekly knockout tournaments you can enter here.

What do you think about Overwatch and its potential as an eSport? Let us know in the comments and forum.