An open beta in May 2016 drew in more than 9.7 million players. Overwatch was unveiled at BlizzCon 2014 in a fully playable state, and was in a closed beta from late 2015 through early 2016. Significant time was spent adjusting the balance of the characters, making sure that new players would still be able to have fun while skilled players would present each other with a challenge. After establishing the narrative of an optimistic near-future Earth setting after a global crisis, the developers aimed to create a diverse cast of heroes that spanned genders and ethnicities as part of this setting. Some elements of Overwatch borrow assets and concepts from the canceled Titan project. A portion of the Titan team came up with the concept of Overwatch, based on the success of team-based first-person shooters like Team Fortress 2 and the growing popularity of multiplayer online battle arenas, creating a hero-based shooter that emphasized teamwork. Overwatch is Blizzard's fourth major franchise, and came about following the 2014 cancellation of the ambitious massively multiplayer online role-playing game Titan.
Additionally, Blizzard has developed and added new characters, maps, and game modes post-release, while stating that all Overwatch updates will remain free, with the only additional cost to players being microtransactions to earn additional cosmetic rewards. The game was launched with casual play, while Blizzard added competitive ranked play about a month after launch. Players gain cosmetic rewards that do not affect gameplay, such as character skins and victory poses, as they continue to play in matches. Players on a team work together to secure and defend control points on a map and/or escort a payload across the map in a limited amount of time. Overwatch puts players into two teams of six, with each player selecting one of several pre-defined hero characters with unique movement, attributes, and abilities these heroes are divided into four classes: Offense, Defense, Tank and Support. It was released in May 2016 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Overwatch Free Download for PC is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment.