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Overwatch servers struggle under weight of player demand

Blizzard's working as quickly as it can to iron out connectivity issues.

David Craddock

May 23, 2016 4:16 PM

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Overwatch drew nearly 10 million players during its open beta, but not even that staggering metric was enough to prepare Blizzard for the rush of players flooding onto the game's servers. The servers went online just a few minutes ago, and greater-than-anticipated demand—and that's significant, seeing as we're talking about a new Blizzard game—has caused Battle.net to buckle.

Users on Twitter are reporting difficulties logging on to the game. 

If you're stuck waiting in line to play Blizzard's take on squad-based shooters like Team Fortress 2, there's plenty of content to chew on. A series of animated shorts provide background info and Blizzard's trademark CG eye candy, and we've already published a guide full of tips and tricks, so bone up until the queue ends and you can join your fellow heroes in Overwatch.

Image credit: Plank-69, Deviant Art

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.