Overwatch’s player count has surpassed titles such as Call of Duty and Apex Legends ahead of its major update on 10 February.
Overwatch, soon dropping the “2” from its title, has seen a surge in players logging into the game, according to Steam Charts. The Blizzard shooter peaked at 69,881 concurrent players last night, marking its highest player count since launching on Steam.
This influx follows the announcement of Overwatch 2's major overhaul last week. Blizzard revealed that Overwatch would be introducing a refreshed UI and a year-long story event titled Reign of Talon–effectively resetting the timeline to Season 1. The game will also introduce 10 new heroes–including a fan-favourite cat–and a Sanrio collaboration with six Legendary skins. This extensive slate of updates, set to launch on 10 February, has successfully reignited interest in the game just days before launch.
For some time, Overwatch had been experiencing a gradual decline in player interest, largely following its controversial transition to Overwatch 2 in 2020. Many players criticised Blizzard for what they felt was a loss of originality, the failure to deliver on promised PvE content, and a slow update cadence.
Despite ongoing debate within the community about the game “dying”, Overwatch has continued to maintain a respectable player base and remains one of the most popular shooters in the industry.
Nonetheless, the upcoming major update has clearly generated more hype around the game.
Overwatch 2 player count overtakes Apex Legends and Call of Duty on Steam
Kicking off 2026, Overwatch has made a significant effort to revitalise itself through a barrage of major updates. As of 9 February 2026, the game has climbed to 18th place on Steam’s most-played chart, recording a 24-hour peak of 69,881 players. This figure represents the second-highest concurrent player count in the game’s history on Steam, nearing its all-time peak of 75,608 achieved at its platform launch two and a half years ago.
This milestone is made even more impressive, given Overwatch’s substantially larger combined player base across Battle.net and console platforms.
At the time of writing, Overwatch maintains 51,568 concurrent players on Steam, placing it ahead of other major titles such as Apex Legends (50,495), Call of Duty (41,117), and Battlefield 6 (32,513).
Player numbers are expected to climb even higher on the official release day of the update, when Overwatch 2 officially reverts to Overwatch on 10 February, bringing with it a significant amount of new content.
