Damage characters are often doing the most damage and help the team with the majority of kills. The game's characters are divided into three role classifications: damage, tank, and support. Most game modes bring together two teams of six players each into a match and compete in one of several objective-based game types based on the randomly selected map, including taking control points and escorting a payload.ДЄ match starts with each player selecting from one of the available hero characters. Overwatch includes casual play modes, competitive ranked play modes, and various arcade modes where special rules apply. Overwatch is primarily an online team-oriented first-person shooter, and an example of a ' hero shooter' where players select from one of several pre-designed hero characters with their own unique abilities.

Nine characters reprised their role as playable heroes in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game, Heroes of the Storm. The game launched with 21 characters, with eleven more added post-release. Blizzard wanted to create a diverse set of characters to reflect a positive outlook on this near future, incorporating non-human characters and non-standard character traits. Overwatch continued to protect the peace until it was disbanded years later under a cloud of suspicion, but its former members have returned to the fore in light of new threats to humanity. The story of Overwatch takes place on Earth in the 'near future' in the years after the 'Omnic Crisis,' a period in which robots (called 'omnics') rose up in rebellion worldwide, and the United Nations formed an elite group called Overwatch to combat them. However, as Overwatch 2 is being developed to be a faster game with five-versus-five teams rather than six-versus-six, several of the characters will have tweaks or major rebuilds within Overwatch 2. Overwatch and its sequel, Overwatch 2, will share the same hero roster in the multiplayer mode. The team-based first-person shooter video game Overwatch (2016), developed by Blizzard Entertainment, features 32 playable characters known as heroes, and a number of supporting characters as part of the game's narrative, which is told through animated media and digital comics outside of the game. A promotional image of the 32 different playable characters on the fourth anniversary of release for Overwatch

Overwatch online members stats