On February 10, Blizzard released a massive patch for Overwatch, signaling a total reboot for the team-based shooter. Most notably, the game has officially dropped the "2" from its name. This milestone update launched with five brand-new heroes and the "Rise of Talon" seasonal event, alongside a wave of other major announcements.
You can find a deeper dive into these changes on the official Overwatch website; however, Streams Charts’ primary focus is on how this relaunch has impacted the game’s livestreaming viewership and engagement.
The launch of the massive global patch and the "Rise of Talon" season has ignited a major resurgence in player interest. On day one, Overwatch smashed its previous concurrent player record on Steam, peaking at 164,600 users. To put that growth in perspective, it’s a fourfold increase compared to the player counts seen in January 2026, just weeks before the update dropped.
Source: steamcharts.com
Player counts weren't the only thing on the rise; the game’s presence in the livestreaming world saw a massive boost as well. The Overwatch category on Twitch hit a peak of 209,000 concurrent viewers, marking its strongest performance since November 2023. Additionally, the number of individual channels streaming Overwatch peaked at over 6,400. This represents the game's second-highest broadcasting milestone since the original launch of Overwatch 2 back in October 2022.
On February 11 — the first full day following the update — Overwatch surged to the top of Twitch as the platform's most-viewed game. It managed to outperform heavy hitters like League of Legends, Grand Theft Auto V, and ARC Raiders in total hours watched.
The top Overwatch streamer on launch day and throughout the following 24 hours was Becca “Aspen” Rukavina. The American creator racked up nearly 400,000 hours watched in just two days. Aspen also led the pack in peak viewership, drawing 32,600 concurrent viewers at her highest point.
Most popular Overwatch streamers
Other high-profile creators joined the celebration, with streamers like Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar, Jeff “Emongg” Anderson, Alan “alanzoka” Pereira, and FroggerOW all hosting Overwatch broadcasts to mark the major patch release.
Naturally, nearly all of the top content creators paired their Overwatch streams with Twitch Drops. By tuning in, viewers could earn common or legendary loot boxes packed with cosmetic rewards, including skins, voice lines, weapon charms, player icons, sprays, and name cards.
Blizzard’s gamble on a total franchise reboot seems to be paying off. With viewership hitting a three-year high and Steam records shattered, Overwatch is officially back in the big leagues.
