Overwatch is having a complicated moment on Steam. While the player count is showing a healthy upward trend, Blizzard Entertainment’s shooter is still facing a barrage of criticism from the community, leaving its recent review score sitting squarely in "mixed" territory.

It is a familiar narrative for modern FPS titles on the platform. Much like the rocky launch of Warzone 2, Overwatch has struggled to win over the Steam user base. However, the current "mixed" status actually represents a slight recovery; prior to the game’s rebranding to simply Overwatch, the user sentiment was locked in the "mostly negative" range.

Player Counts on the Rise

Despite the vocal dissatisfaction in the review section, the actual number of people playing the game tells a story of resurgence. According to Steam Charts, the game hit a 24-hour peak of over 74,000 players recently. While those numbers dipped to around 66,000 at the time of writing, it is a significant improvement over the 45,000 to 50,000 range the game occupied between January 2025 and January 2026.

The momentum seems to be building during the current season. June 2026 was a particularly strong period, seeing a peak of over 102,000 players. While this remains shy of the game's all-time high of 164,636, it suggests that new content—such as the arrival of the hero Shion and an upcoming collaboration with YOASOBI—is successfully drawing players back into the arena.

The Microtransaction Friction

The core of the "mixed" review sentiment remains fixed on Blizzard’s pricing model. Players continue to target the game’s aggressive approach to monetization, with many reviews pointing to the high cost of cosmetic bundles. The Overwatch Nyan Cafe Ultra skins have become a recent flashpoint for this frustration, with users criticizing the $100 (£84.99) price point as unreasonable for digital cosmetics.

Whether the influx of new players and the steady stream of content can eventually push the review score out of the "mixed" category remains to be seen. For now, the game exists in a state of tug-of-war: the gameplay loop is maintaining a strong, growing audience, but the store remains a significant point of contention for those who have taken to the Steam marketplace to voice their grievances.