Experts predict Overwatch will be free in 2019

From an outside perspective, Blizzard’s multiplayer shooter Overwatch is being successful despite its high price tag. The game has over 40 million players on PC and consoles. But according to one analyst, this business model will have major changes.

In an interview, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Patcher predicts 2019 will be the year of free-to-play Overwatch. Patcher said he predicts the game will be free around June 2019, three years after Overwatch first launched. The analyst also said that Blizzard has “assured” to Overwatch League teams that this change in business model will help them grow their fan base for the game (as well as the Overwatch League).

Patcher also mentioned that current Overwatch gamers will certainly be upset by this free decision. However, he believes that Blizzard will give them free items to ease their pain.

According to Patcher, these gamers “will most likely be compensated with free items (skins or other decorations)”. Overwatch has a ton of decorations, like emotes, sprays, and character skins that include limited and seasonal items. Maybe Blizzard will add “founder” skins only for those who purchased the game before Overwatch was free.

This is not the first time free Overwatch rumors and predictions have surfaced. Two years ago, a member of the executive team NetEase, Blizzard’s Overwatch partner in China, said a free trial version of the game could be available. This demo may have limited features compared to the paid version, but it shows that Blizzard has more or less considered changing the business model for a while.

Others believe that Overwatch’s business model changed after Blizzard was forced to pay employees to ask them to quit in order to reduce staffing. Blizzard’s goal is to increase the company’s profits. Overwatch may be successful as a buy-in, but Blizzard executives may even want to make more money than the game itself, so they may be turning to free-to-play.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz