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Popular video game franchises Valorant and Overwatch 2 have a lot in common, including the fact that they are first-person games. Despite being primarily described as a tactical FPS, Valorant features hero-based gameplay and ability usage, similar to the popular hero shooter Overwatch 2 and its closely related prequel.
Riot's tactical shooter was launched in 2020, four years after the first Overwatch game was launched. Naturally, fans located similarities between the titles, which led them to believe that Overwatch's fast-paced hero-based action inspired the former.
In 2023, gamers have access to Overwatch 2, which was released in late 2022 and isn't very different from the original title, thus maintaining a similarity with Riot's tactical shooter.
However, Overwatch 2 and Valorant also pose stark differences in many aspects, including weapon-based conflicts, environments, playstyles, and lore, which makes them unique and allows both games to foster a player base of their own.
Exploring Valorant's player base in 2023: Does it feature a larger player base than Overwatch 2?
Valorant has been available to download and play since mid-2020, while Overwatch 2 is a recent release. However, the Overwatch franchise dates back to 2016. Overwatch 2 is only a small upgrade to the original game; most core mechanics and playstyles remain the same.
At the time of writing, Riot's popular competitive shooter has 778,721 concurrent players and has recorded 23,315,501 active players in the past 30 days, according to Active Player.
Here are the monthly player counts for the game in 2022, until December 30:
- December 30, 2022: 23,014,487
- November 30, 2022: 22,140,789
- October 30, 2022: 22,501,445
- September 30, 2022: 21,988,040
- August 30, 2022: 21,360,284
- July 30, 2022: 20,760,260
- June 30, 2022: 20,262,155
- May 30, 2022: 20,620,584
- April 30, 2022: 20,511,587
- March 30, 2022: 20,265,793
- February 20, 2022: 20,043,764
- January 30, 2022: 19,533,465
As per trends, Valorant boasts some very impressive numbers. However, Overwatch 2 isn't going to disappoint either.
At the time of writing, Overwatch 2 features 171,141 concurrent players and has recorded 23,608,850 active players in the past 30 days, according to Active Player. Here are the monthly player counts for Blizzard's hero shooter game in 2022, until December 30:
- December 30, 2022: 23,021,147
- November 30, 2022: 20,551,456
- October 30, 2022: 18,560,554
As can be seen, Overwatch 2 has recorded more active players than Riot's tactical shooter in November and December and also boasts a higher 30-day player count. However, the difference is minor. Furthermore, Valorant dominates the concurrent player segment by a huge margin.
Overwatch 2 is available across multiple platforms, including PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. As of now, Riot's tactical shooter is only available on PC. The platform availability plays a major role in boosting the player base and count. Furthermore, Overwatch 2 has now become free-to-play, unlike 2016's Overwatch, and also enjoys the popularity of the original IP.
Verdict
By the numbers, Overwatch 2 features a slightly larger player base than Valorant. However, the difference isn't very significant. Apart from the occasional downfalls, Riot Games has maintained incredible consistency with its tactical shooter, whose popularity is expected to skyrocket in the coming days and months.
Having said that, Overwatch 2 has a great grip on multiple platforms and is growing in popularity too. It will be interesting to see how the differences in their player base pan out in the coming days.
