Blizzard Claims Overwatch Has Hit The 10 Million User Mark In Under A Month

Blizzard has another successful franchise on its hands and it took less than a month for that to be evident. Based on Blizzard's headcount, there are now more than 10 million gamers playing Overwatch, a cartoonish shooter that released to Windows PCs, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One barely more than three weeks ago on May 24, 2016.

Overwatch is Blizzard's first attempt at a shooter, though it's no stranger to wildly popular franchises. World of Warcraft, probably its most lucrative IP to date, hit a high of 12 million monthly subscribers six years ago. Hearthstone, which ties into the WoW universe as a turn-based card game, reached more than 40 million players a year ago and remains one of the most watched games on Twitter. In May of last year, Blizzard announced that Hearthstone and Destiny had combined to generate almost $1 billion in revenue. And then of course there's the button mashing Diablo series and StarCraft.

Now Overwatch has a chance to shine and join the ranks of lucrative franchises that came before it. Unlike WoW, there's no monthly subscription required to play Overwatch, just a one-time purchase for the title, which runs $60 for the Origins Edition and $130 for the Collector's Edition. The latter comes with a bunch of extras, such as a Strike Commander statute, a handful of Origin skins and other in-game goodies, a soundtrack, and more.

Having 10 million players doesn't necessarily equate to 10 million copies sold—more than one person can play from a single copy of the game. Nevertheless, it's a milestone Blizzard should be proud of, just not surprised by. Barely more than a week in, Blizzard said more than 7 million players had logged 119 million hours of gameplay.

Not only is Overwatch Blizzard's first shooter, it's the company's first new IP in 15 years. It's a also a redemption of sorts for the development team that had previously toiled over Project Titan, an MMO that was ultimately scrapped.