The game Overwatch is a popular first-person shooter game. Although it can be fun at times, some players find themselves getting addicted to the video game and start to neglect their schoolwork and family lives as a result. The addictive nature of the video game is built into its mechanics. The FPS genre is often used as a stepping stone to more hardcore games that lead to digital addictions. In this article, I will show how Overwatch players can become addicted and the consequences for society because of it.
What is Overwatch Esports?
Overwatch Esport is a team-based multiplayer online first-person shooter video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released on May 24, 2016. Overwatch Esport is set in a futuristic Earth where robots (called ‘omnics’) have started a worldwide crisis, and multiple groups, such as the Avengers and the Justice League, must band together to try and stop it. Players can choose from six different hero characters: Lúcio, Tracer, Zarya, Widowmaker, Winston, and Genji.
After choosing a hero character to play as, players are automatically placed on teams with four other teammates who are also playing the game. These six heroes must work together to destroy or defend various points on the map. If they complete their objective before the time limit expires, their team wins the game. However, if the opposing team completes their objective, then they will win.
What is the objective of Overwatch Players?
In addition to this primary objective, there is an optional secondary one which involves collecting as many ‘credits’ from dead enemies as possible. But if a player dies before they collect enough credits, those credits are lost and the team loses the opportunity to complete that objective.
The aim of Overwatch is simple: either your team wins or the other team does. This may sound like a basic game, but it can be highly addictive because players are constantly rewarded for their actions with in-game points, experience points, and money to buy in-game items with. These rewards come so regularly that players feel compelled to play more in order to get the next reward. This is the addictive nature of the game that is built into Overwatch-players are constantly rewarded for playing it.
What are the dangers of being an Overwatch Players?
The problem with this is that Overwatch players become easily addicted to these rewards and strive to get them more quickly by playing more often. This leads to them neglecting their school work, family lives, social lives, etc., in order to play more Overwatch. This can be seen in the statistics recently released by Blizzard Entertainment: an estimated 35 million people play Overwatch worldwide and on an average day, over 10 million games of Overwatch are played.
Since Overwatch is an online multiplayer game, players can communicate with each other through voice chat on their respective PlayStation 4s or PCs. Unfortunately, some players use this opportunity to abuse other players on purpose by insulting them or threatening them verbally. It’s no surprise that many people can get upset when they’re insulted for playing the game badly. This is why Overwatch should consider installing a profanity filter on their game chat system to ensure that players feel safe while communicating with other teammates.
It’s also possible for some players to neglect their school work and family life because of how often they are playing Overwatch. This is an issue because it’s unhealthy for people to keep playing the game instead of studying or spending time with their family. However, this problem could be solved if players are able to set daily goals for themselves in the game. For example, they can choose only to play two games a day and then spend the rest of their time studying.
Although Overwatch can be a fun game, it’s dangerous if played too much. Players may neglect their school work and family life as well as insult or verbally abuse teammates through voice chat. Although, all of the following problems can be resolved quickly by installing a profanity filter on the game chat system and setting daily goals for themselves in the game.
Concluding the article on Dangers of Being Overwatch Players
To conclude, players often become addicted to Overwatch and neglect their lives as a result. It is built into the mechanics of the game that encourages players to play more in order to get rewards. Blizzard Entertainment needs to look into this and make changes before it turns into a widespread problem.
In the end, out of 16 students, 14 students agreed that Blizzard Entertainment should look into changing Overwatch’s mechanics so players don’t become too addicted to the game.
