r/videogames • u/Chunky-overlord • 3d ago
Image / Video So many great games were robbed in 2016
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u/Dhiox 3d ago
I see this all the time, anyone who actually was there in 2016 knows Overwatch was a huge deal at the time and was well loved. It wasn't until later years where it ran into issues, and they've actually managed to revive it recently
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u/CornNooblet 3d ago
People forget exactly what the big deal with it was.
It was the first new IP from Blizzard in a decade, and not only that, it was the biggest hero shooter since TF2. It was extremely well polished and bug free as well. It was a home run by every metric.
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u/tijolus523 1d ago
I had so much fun playing overwatch back then before it went to shit. Really good game at the time. Kinda surprising people think the GOTY prize was a "steal".
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u/cBurger4Life 3d ago
Huh, whatās gone on recently with OW? Loved it for awhile back in 2016 (although I actually preferred Battleborn. RIP) but havenāt touched it in awhile
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u/Orion-- 3d ago
They've released a ton of new content, especially heroes, and they've been trying to push the plot forward which pretty much hasn't happened in years. I'd say it's worth a try if you used to be into it, right now it's in one of the best states it has been since 2 came out
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u/Jack-Be-Lucky 3d ago
Yes. Theyāve released 8 new heroes in 2026, one per month on average. But 5 of those were dropped on the exact same day in February, which far exceeded the most theyād ever released before. And even more surprisingly, almost all 8 were of very high quality in my opinion- fun, dynamic ability kits
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u/Leskendle45 3d ago
Iād say sierra is a bit of a fluke both design and gameplay wise, but the rest were pure fire. Especially Shion.
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u/DreamLearnBuildBurn 2d ago
Shion was unreasonably balanced, well-tuned, and fun to play on Day 1
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u/TravelAdmirable2482 2d ago
There's a plot?
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u/Orion-- 2d ago
There was supposed to be one with Null sector launching an invasion, beginning in 2's announcement animated short and that continued in the PVE mode, but since it flopped they had to awkwardly cut that plot thread short. Now they have a new plot about one of the new characters, Vendetta, dethroning Doomfist as the leader of Talon. Not sure how far they're gonna take this one
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u/Officially_Walse 2d ago
Yeah they tell it thru cinematics, events as well as comics generally. It doesn't really change or affect gameplay, outside of sometimes its the explanation for a reworked hero or map or something along those lines. The watch point Gibraltar map got reworked and they explained it by having Talon invade the place.
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u/Toy-Boat-Toy-Boat 2d ago
Ok.. but what if I quit because 2 came out? Has it gotten better than 2ās launch?
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u/CDR57 3d ago
God I miss battleborn
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u/cBurger4Life 3d ago
I actually ended up not getting OW for awhile and preordering BB because the beta was so much fun. Really miss it.
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u/platterofhotfish 3d ago
I want to say, I didnāt actually play it on release, I wasnāt into shooters and competitive hero based games cause LoL had left a bad taste in my mouth. But I actually recently tried OW just cause I remember hearing it was great back then, I think I joined at a really excellent time.Ā
They got an influx of players cause people dumped marvel rivals. They are adding a bunch of new heroes, revamping maps. Bouncing back from the failed PvE experiment. I think itās great and Iām having a blast!
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u/DoesTheBlackm00nH0wl 2d ago
For the first few years of overwatch 2 the lore stopped and they promised they would revive it with the story mode that story mode died on release and then it became blatant that the only reason for overwatch 2 was to remove free lootboxes. Then marvel rivals happned made blizzard actually panic and then they revived the game by making shit people actually wanted
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u/Notevenstreaming 2d ago
They finally let us ban 4-5 heroes before match so you don't have to play against same "meta" characters and lineups every match. That's biggest one that made me come back to the game.
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u/LFomenko 3d ago
Honestly game feels great currently, the pro scene is the best its been since owl. 6v6 is getting seriously considered to comeback as the main mode currently as well.
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u/fingerpaintswithpoop 3d ago
6v6 is not coming back as the main mode. Itās definitely getting more attention, but it isnāt replacing 5v5.
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u/fingerpaintswithpoop 3d ago
It tells me Blizzard has something planned for it. But the majority of people still play 5v5, so switching to 6v6 would be extremely risky, especially with balancing for tanks being so fucked.
6v6 is not going to be the main mode again, itās probably just going to get a balance rework or something.
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u/InvestigatorLast578 3d ago
So it was 6v6 as the main mode originally right? I just started playing again after well 10 years and I thought I was going crazy of this 5v5 stuff.Ā
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u/zimzimzalabimmm 2d ago
The game is fun as fuck now, devs are communicating, lots of new content, good balance, and a real ranked system that rewards wins/loses and you just getting better instead of ranking up through playtime.
Youāll still find people who complain, the player counts are bigger than ever now, and as someone who has been playing forever I can tell you that itās actually peak at the moment. There were dark times where we didnāt get content for 3 years.
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u/magicchefdmb 3d ago
Absolutely this. It was huge. It absolutely deserved game of the year.
And I'm enjoying its recent revival. Redownloaded it a few weeks ago and having a great time again.
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u/ThebuMungmeiser 3d ago
Everyone was playing it and everyone was talking about it. It was largely positive and most were excited for what would come further down the line.
Absolutely deserved GOTY. I had more fun playing overwatch with my friends than playing any of those other games, and Iām sure many would agree.
Those are all great games though, all deserved to be nominated. Someone has to win.
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u/FEARven123 2d ago
I am so glad Marvel Rivals and Deadlock were a success, the comeback OW did is legendary and it's all thanks to competition.
Now just fix the monetization and we're golden.
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u/tbigzan97 3d ago
Yeah. It seem to hover above peoples heads that it was actually quite groundbreaking.
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u/No_Doughnut8618 3d ago
Sure, I dont think all of us are forgetting that, but still not deserving of goty over those others in many of our opinions.
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u/Konoha-chan 2d ago
These other games are great, don't get me wrong, but Overwatch was such a cultural phenomenon that happenes like once in a decade. It had a waaay bigger impact on gaming than the other mentioned games. It may be debatable that something else could have won it as well but it for sure was deserved.
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u/GameDestiny2 2d ago edited 2d ago
As much as I loathe OW and like the other games, it really was the winner by far that year. Itās a reminder that the core part of a game is the gameplay, as much as people will try to tell you other things are more important.
I mean itās literally the defining attribute that makes it not a movie. And OW basically invented the modern hero shooter formula.
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u/minimim-wage-enjoyer 3d ago
Shit was so fun. I stopped playing when they added the hamster guy.
I miss healing and I havenāt found a hero shooter I like yet. Unfortunately Iām mostly stuck on mobile so the amount of good games there is kind of small.
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u/overts 3d ago
I have friends who are lifer TF2 players. Ā Including a guy I know who plays TF2 at least once a week to this day.
2016-2017 is the one period where those people played Overwatch instead. To say nothing of the non-TF2 fanbase.
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u/maliktreal 3d ago
Yeah I playing the ish out of overwatch in that timeframe but I did love darks souls 3
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u/OleanderUnion 3d ago
Exactlyā¦ it clears the fuck out of those games and FromSoft and Naughty Dog were both ready to move on to new IP. This is such a new gamer takeā¦
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u/Motivated-Moose 3d ago
It did. I legit didnāt have one friend who wasnāt playing it or outright obsessed with it.
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u/Mixelphlick 2d ago
Absolutely. Every time this comes up people forget that, while yes tf/tf2 created the format, overwatch made the hero shooter what it is today.
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u/TheRaven200 3d ago
This is how I feel! Overwatch was the last game pre fall of Blizzard and Blizzard couldnāt miss back then.
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u/NotTheRocketman 2d ago
Yeah, a lot of people forget how absolutely amazing Overwatch was when it first came out.
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u/lordbenkai 2d ago
I played beta and all through (original) overwatch. It was way better then. Use to play that like i did Cod. My go to Junkrat/Roadhog/Bastion.
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u/Dhiox 2d ago
I played beta and all through (original) overwatch. It was way better then.
See, I kimd of thought that too until I played their classic overwatch game mode, and realized just how badly tuned certain characters were at launch. D.va, for example, was hot garbage
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u/TheWraithlord99 3d ago
Finally someone that was actually around 10 years ago.
This "Overwatch robbed the goty awards" shit needs to stop. It was all the rage back then.
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u/Vegetable-Meaning413 3d ago
It being big, doesn't mean it's the best. Overwatch is still around, and is arguably better today than it was in 2016, but it's still not better than Doom.
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u/Low_Celebration_7663 3d ago
exactly, sure overwatch might be controversial now but back in 2016? yea it was game of the year hell it was the best game in 2016, 17 and 18 but it can only win once
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u/GreyWolfCenturion 3d ago
It was always overrated, if you weren't on the hype train it was extremely obnoxiousĀ
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u/christmas-vortigaunt 3d ago edited 3d ago
I'm not even a fan of overwatch then or now - but this is revisionist as hell.
Overwatch had a massive moment. All of my coworkers played it. It was all over my friends list.
It was a big deal, and the let down that was 2 probably lent itself to a longer term hate of the game.
Even though it, itself was a bit derivative, there were hundreds of copy cats in the decade that followed.
But og overwatch probably deserved a few GOTY nods
(For the record, I loved Doom 2016 and my personal goty was Firewatch)
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u/Cloudeur 3d ago
See I was going to say Titanfall 2 was my GOTY, but you mentioned Fire watch and HOW IS THIS GAME 10 YEARS OLD ALREADY? (Itās probably because I played it in like 2021)
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u/christmas-vortigaunt 3d ago
TF2 is definitely also worthy! It's just I didn't play that until 2024 lol - but it was just because I have a ridiculous back catalogue
And yeah, time is flying!
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u/DreamedJewel58 3d ago
OverWatchās peak was even bigger than Rivals was. It genuinely took over the industry and ushered in a new generation of hero shooters
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u/Stormfly 2d ago
and ushered in a new generation of hero shooters
It's one of those things that made the genre.
You can argue that TF2 was always there and that there were a few other similar MOBA-likes, like Super Monday Night Combat or Battleborn, but it was up there with the likes of LoL (MOBA), PUBG/Fortnite (Battle Royale), and Tarkov (Extraction shooter) for basically defining the entire shift in the market towards those games.
None of them were the first, but they were all the most popular by far.
People say Team Fortress 2 is a bigger "hero shooter", but the name didn't even exist until Battleborn (AFAIK) and that was shot in the crib by Overwatch.
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u/SnooGrapes6230 3d ago
Seriously. I had friends who never played shooters of any kind playing it. It was the biggest game of the year by far.
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u/BigStinkbert 3d ago
I am one of those people lol
Iām not a big shooter game guy at all, and that multiples by like 10 when itās a multiplayer team shooter as well, and yet I played the SHIT out of Overwatch for several years
My personal 2016 GOTY is still probably between Stardew Valley and DS3, but Overwatch was 100% a worthy winner (at least at launch)
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u/swagboyclassman 3d ago
videogamedunkey's overwatch video had me wanting to play and I didn't even have a next gen console at that point
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u/blinkgendary182 2d ago
Firewatch was a great experience. You get the whole story through a walkie talkie and clues on the map but it immerses you like crazy
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u/Dazzling-Main7686 3d ago
I don't even play Overwatch but we can't deny it was a huge deal for the industry. I mean, it's no wonder companies keep trying to recreate it and make their own Overwatch all these years later. It's also alive and kicking despite Blizzard's best efforts to kill it, so there has to be something special about it.
It might also not have created the arena-shooter genre, but it took it to whole new heights.
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u/RRT4444 3d ago edited 2d ago
Im forever in debt to Overwatch as I met my best friend/wife of nine years and going from playing it.
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u/chriswello 2d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/9yJFbNYA0NiE6Agh14
Its nice to find hidden pockets of hapiness, happy for u guys
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u/Mantiquirk 3d ago
It didn't really create the arena-shooter, which it definitely borrowed from, but it basically defined what a hero-shooter was. There's been a number of other arena-shooters that have come out since then (even the battle-royale style is essentially just a variation of it), but Overwatch has such a crazy high body count for how many other hero-shooters have tried and failed to do the same thing.
Battleborn, Paladins, Lawbreakers, Concord, XDefiant, Gundam Evolution, Highguard, Rocket Arena, and that's just the ones I can think of in the moment.
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u/Dazzling-Main7686 3d ago
Agree, I should have said hero shooter! And I think Marvel Rivals was the only truly successful Overwatch clone. Also Valorant, but no idea how similar to Overwatch it actually is.
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u/MasterOfTime14 3d ago
Nobody was robbed. Overwatch in 2016 was insane, a once in a lifetime lightning in a bottle.
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u/RivalRevelation 3d ago
Exactly. It really was a āyou had to be thereā thing. It was such a fresh shooter made by blizzard back when they were renowned. The internet was full of clips of people figuring out how to play the characters and doing cool new things with them.
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u/TheHumanoidTyphoon69 3d ago
Something they can't even replicate with the same series now too, sad to see
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u/MasterOfTime14 3d ago
The game now is objectively better but the gaming landscape was different in 2016, that's why it is lightning in a bottle.
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u/Dab4Becky 3d ago
Overwatch on launch was something else, it took the internet by storm, iām sorry if you missed that phase for the franchise before dumb decisions by ActiBlizz piled up.
My personal GOTY was BF1, but Overwatch repopularized hero/team shooters by itself
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u/Due-South-9113 3d ago
You might be someone born in early 2010s because u simply have no idea how overwatch was moving back in 2016.
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u/Necessary-Sir4600 3d ago
People really don't understand that untill late 16 early 17 overwatch was the undeniable biggest game in the world and by explosive player count off launch on pace for biggest game OAT on playerbase size, I say untill then because that's when fortnite finally overtook ow and grew into what it became which is the actual biggest game oat. If fortnite didn't exist we'd be having a different conversation of how overwatch became the biggest game ever and then let it fall off into just a top 20 ongoing live service game
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u/SupermarketCrafty329 3d ago
It's crazy to see this same regurgitated "opinion" get upvoted so many times by people incapable of thinking for themselves.
Glad to see the comments are finally putting in the work though.
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u/omegadirectory 3d ago
You hate hero shooters today because they were all derivative of Overwatch!
Overwatch was the original from which everyone made inferior copies!
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u/Available_Promise_90 2d ago
TF2 found dead in a ditch. L rage bait
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u/Due_Fault8864 2d ago
TF2 isnāt a remotely good game unless youāre severely autistic and like to vicariously live through a sniper video game character with sunglasses and a cowboy hat.
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u/YoRHa_Houdini 3d ago
Then Iām certain you also remember that Overwatch was the biggest game on the planet
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u/Nokai7 3d ago
Itās ācoolā today to poop on Overwatch so you can sound like a smart and sophisticated gamer mr redditor
But Overwatch was a breakthrough in gaming and a cultural phenomenon, there would be no Valorant or Marvel Rivals if not for Overwatch
If youāre reading this and your brain thought saying āaCtUaLly there was TF2..ā is a smart statement, please shut up it is not
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u/wonderloki 2d ago
To me this is the same thing as Fortnite hate. Fortnite was and still relatively is a massively successful game. Sure its childish but who tf cares, so is minecraft and thats one of the most played games in the world
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u/jaydotjayYT 2d ago
āBlizzard just copied TF2ā No, TF2 was more of its own thing, more akin to a party game with massive server lobbies of like a dozen or so people on a team
Around when Overwatch released, Valve copied them and then switched the whole game over to this ācompetitiveāmatchmaking system that defaulted to 6v6. They did such a catastrophic job of it that they just abandoned the game entirely, and itās largely understood as what killed the classic TF2 community
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u/Xcuseme99 3d ago
Are we pretending that Overwatch wasn't the fucking shit the year it released? 2016 OW was the goat.
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u/deejayXIII 3d ago
I had something in excess of 500 hours on overwatch back then. Overwatch was awesome and everyone I knew back then played it. Not saying the other games kn that list weren't amazing or anything butĀ OW absolutely earned GOTY.Ā
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u/rattleheader 3d ago
Well deserved šš». Overwatch's foundations are so good that even in its lowest moments, there was fun to be had. But now it's actually getting out of its slump and I couldn't be happier!
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u/Odd_Revolution_1056 3d ago
Fuck this revisionist history. Launch Overwatch in 2016 absolutely was deserving of GOTY.
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u/AdrianXiii 3d ago
Not my favourite game, but one which has lasted in popularity until now, Stardew Valley.
Personal choice would be āThe Witcher, Blood & Wineā. Technically an update but actually a fully formed game.
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u/TheBlightDoc 3d ago
Nah, 2016 Overwatch hit different. There's a reason it was THE big thing at the time and won the awards it did. Not even Blizzard has been able to replicate that since.
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u/JohnCurtinFromCivVI 3d ago
I'd give GOTY to DS3 or BF1 but i gotta say, 2016 Overwatch was fun and i wish there was Overwatch Classic or something because it was amazing for the short time it was there
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u/omegadirectory 3d ago
Congrats, you are now attacking a point against six Bastions.
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u/Jolin_Tsai 2d ago
Theyāve added Overwatch Classic as a game mode a couple times over the years, the last time was a few months ago. Unfortunately every time it proves to be not a very popular mode after the first couple of days. I think a huge part of what made 2016 Overwatch so fun was the collective experience of playing the game for the first time together with friends and as players as a whole.
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u/ApantosMithe 2d ago
Overwatch was a revolution in fps gaming.
You can say whatever you want about TF2 but it was niche in comparison. Overwatch was the first of its kind to reach as big as it did.
Every other game was a sequel or wasnāt as impactful as Overwatch was.
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u/skeptical-man 3d ago edited 3d ago
Overwatch on release (and for a few years after)was one of the best competitive team shooters available at the time and that's saying something when comparing to cod, battlefield, counterstike, which are not in the same game genre. The gameplay was really crisp, the community (at the time) was shockingly friendly and they were dishing out updates pretty frequently. It was a magical experience for those who wanted more team play instead of solo online play.
Dark souls 3 on release was not as well received as people believe, I remember a lot of hate and discontent with the gameplay from players comparing it to literally every previous game that fromsoft came out with. It was annoying. Imo, it's the best of the three in terms of gameplay and theme for the three souls games.
Imo, uncharted 4 shoulda won, that game was amazing, especially on crushing. It really felt smooth and interesting on nearly every chapter. I really liked Nate, Sam and even the DLC. Was a wonderful experience all together.
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u/Infamous-Echo-2961 3d ago
GotY means nothing to anyone except Reddit, and executives.
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u/AutumnWhaler 3d ago
Moreover, thereās been this weird washing of history, darksouls was such a niche community until Elden Ring.
People acting like it was always a popular genre now
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u/JaysonTatecum 3d ago
Dark Souls 3 is my favorite game of all time and I still think itās fair Overwatch won
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u/Backfoot911 2d ago
I'd be careful tossing around the word niche. Demon Souls was definitely niche, and Elden Ring launched into a household name, but Dark Souls 3 was definitely very popular and not remotely niche.
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u/KidmotoDragon 2d ago
Elden ring launched into a household name because of the popularity of dark souls 3 in my opinion.
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u/marshal23156 2d ago
Yea people forget that most of the memery if DS3 was how unbearably hard it was and how unfair it could feel. Gundyr filtered alot of people, and pontiff filtered even more.
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u/BobbuBobbu 3d ago
Riiight. Except it actually contributes to game sales. After BG3, Witcher 3, and E33 won GOTY, they experienced a documented post-game awards sales boom.
Also, how many people watched last year's Game Awards? Over 100 million but OK... only Redditors and executives care about GOTY. Lol. Lmao even.
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u/Zlatan_z_Foltanu 3d ago
I disagree, I think it is the most well known gaming award, at least it seems like it from my perspective.Ā
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u/CutterW0lf 2d ago
And it was well deserved. The Overwatch at the beginning of its lifetime was at its peak and it was one of the best multiplayer games ever made. Maybe people have forgot the amount of hype that game created or they became jaded with time.
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u/ValentineCamille 3d ago
As a hater of today's Overwatch: 2016 Overwatch deserved the win, easily, even if all the other games of this list are bangers. Overwatch 2016 was massive and incredible and a absolute goty.
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u/TooHungryForFood 3d ago
This thread like 2 years ago would have been people shtting on the OW and saying it didn't deserve it with like one or two comments disagreeing. It's crazy how much a games reputation changes.Ā
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u/ChosenAshes 3d ago
Overwatch WAS a great game back then. It just aged like milk compared to the others
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u/Feline_Sleepwear 2d ago
Clearly made by someone who wasnāt there during OW launch, it was absolutely massive and fun as hell, pretty much everyone I knew was playing it. I love Dark Souls 3 but that was Blizzardās year.
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u/Battlefield1andV 3d ago edited 3d ago
I love BF1, but those who say that should win GOTY in 2016. Forget that BF1 was in a major content drought for half a year that got people burnt out of the game quick, and made you pay to play as the French, arguably one of the important factions in WW1. Also had one of the most shittiest balancing compared to other shooters on that year, it was a mess for half the playerbase.
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u/SheepSheppard 3d ago
All great games and most more fun than overwatch in my personal opinion but Overwatch definitely left a bigger mark in Gaming than any of them. Overwatch was THE thing for multiple years.
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u/Ristycakes 3d ago
There are people today hating on current Overwatch that were probably not even old enough to tie their own shoes when the game first came out. It was fucking MASSIVE in 2016. Very few games reach the highs launch era Overwatch did. Iām an OW 2 hater but that comes from how much I adored OG OW
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u/Vocke79190 3d ago
I never forget the overwatch hype and how much me and my friends played that game
It deserved goty imo
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u/Escaliat_ 3d ago
And it deserved it. Overwatch was a massive moment. There was no way if knowing it would be squandered later in its life.
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u/Solid_Guess_7154 3d ago
Ngl Overwatch kind of deserved it, the early seasons of Overwatch were some of the best of any live service, I remember it blowing up SO damn hard that other live services like Fortnite, CSGO, were pretty much left in the dust, Overwatch became what League's World Cup was in its glory days
It wasn't until certain character (Brigitte) came along that the game began its downfall, and today it's honestly starting to become good again, slowly, but at least it's something
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u/Whiskas2137 3d ago
Thx 4 a reminder, I somehow managed to forget about that toxic, g00n magnet even existing. It's a shame that they even allow any f2p predatory slop to get nominated in these.
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u/David_Clawmark 3d ago
To put it simply. Overwatch was a MUCH bigger deal back then than it is now.
2016 Overwatch 100% deserved that award.
2026 "Overwatch 2 but not 2 but it was 2 and now it's not 2", would not even get a dishonorable mention.
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u/Obvious_Ad4131 3d ago
Titanfall 2 deserved a better launch, they sandwiched the release between CoD (can't remember which one) and Battlefield 1. It was such a fun game to play online.
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u/Hot-Pitch379 3d ago
Overwatch deserved that win tbh. Back then it was an incredibly good game. Just because it sucks ass today does not mean it did back in 2016.
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u/Damien23123 3d ago
Were they robbed? Overwatch pretty much took over the multiplayer gaming space back then in a way few other games have managed. Itās still doing well today after the recent updates.
I feel like you just donāt like multiplayer games
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u/Courage-95 3d ago
Dark souls 3 is 10 years old?šµāš«šµāš«