Since its debut, the game grew exponentially, added various heroes, and implemented new game modes. Moreover, Blizzard released the Overwatch 2 trailer two years ago, but they haven’t updated the state of the upcoming sequel since. Even so, we understand if you’re looking for a new multiplayer game coming from a more stable company. That said, we understand the significance of Overwatch. It’s popular, challenging, and entertaining. The games like Overwatch we’re choosing will try to keep the experience within these parameters.
Selecting Games Like Overwatch
To find games like Overwatch, we need to dissect the elements of Blizzard’s multiplayer FPS. The games we’re selecting offer a blend of some of the elements below, plus some of its own:
Hero Shooter: Overwatch is primarily a hero first-person-shooter. That means you select from a roster of characters with unique abilities, looks, apparel, weapons, and an ultimate. The damage, HP, and other stats are not equal among the heroes. MOBA Genre: MOBA(Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) is a massively popular game that refers to two teams of heroes facing each other on an arena. People often refer to Overwatch as an “FPS MOBA.” Because of that, it focuses on action shooting mechanics rather than strategy and RPG like other classic MOBAS. Role: Overwatch follows a classic role system, where every character is either a Tank (defensive), DPS (offensive), or Support (healer). Every hero belongs in one of the three categories, and players need to fulfill the role properly to help the team.Abilities: Every hero has two abilities plus an Ultimate. Each ability has a cooldown, but the Ultimate charges over time. Aside from the ability, the gameplay is similar to the looter shooter formula Borderlands presented. Team PvP: Similarly, Overwatch is a team-based PvP. Players join matches as a team of six, and each team has 2 members in each role. Achieving a balance between offense, defense, and support is the key to victory.Game Modes: Overwatch has various maps and a couple of game modes. In essence, one team pushes and the other defends until the last defense point. It works through either securing/defending points or escorting a payload / stopping the payload. Synergies: Likewise, some heroes synergize with others within a team. That means some heroes can combine their abilities and ultimate for massive damage. Counters: The game also has a hidden counter system. This is because heroes often have a “damage type.” Then, some tank heroes have increased resistance to a particular damage type.Loot boxes: The game has loot boxes players can purchase or earn in-game. These bring cosmetic items and salutes for the heroes. Style: Overwatch has a cartoony and colorful style. The art style made it possible to make a plethora of distinct-looking heroes. Moreover, it helped the game keep the system specifications low for PC users. Lore: Hardcore Overwatch fans know the game has a significant amount of lore. The lore explains the characters, the powers, and the settings. Blizzard expands on the storytelling with seasonal events and updates. Crossplay: Overwatch offers crossplay on all platforms. The game is available for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and Windows PCs.
Our list is not about searching every hero shooter out there. Instead, we’re focusing on the light, casual, and yet moderately difficult team-based PvP experience, Overwatch offers. Also, we had to leave many games behind because they didn’t have a significant enough player base. Therefore, we’re looking at popular games like Overwatch. Because, what’s the point of a PvP if there are not enough people in the lobbies?
Games Like Overwatch
Apex Legends
Respawn’s hero shooter has been on the top 5 free-to-play titles on Steam. It’s a phenomenon that combines the Battle Royale formula with team-based mechanics. By that, I mean roles, synergies, and counters.You play as a team of three on large maps. Then, the goal is to survive until the end on maps that can hold up to 60 players (20 squads). The overall gameplay is fast, challenging, and full of crazy abilities.Additionally, each character has their abilities and stories. Because the heroes and settings come from Respanw’s Titanfall universe, there’s deep lore behind the team-based battle royale. And as you expect, the developers expand the story with seasonal events.Overall, Apex Legends offer strategic squad play and an innovative FPS combat system. And just like you need Mercy and Reiner to win on Overwatch, you also need Lifeline as your healer support behind every battle. It’s a tough game to master that still offers casual fun.
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a sequel to one of the original team-based PvP shooter games. Overwatch took a lot of elements from Valve’s original multiplayer and used it for its own. So, we needed to add the older title, which is still a top popular free-to-play game on Steam.This is a first-person shooter game where you select from nine unique characters. Each character fulfills a role with its special abilities and weapons. Then, you’re part of either the blue or red teams, and the goal is defeating the opponent.The game modes are similar to Overwatch, or rather, Overwatch is similar to Team Fortress 2. However, aside from payloads and defending points, the game has many modes as Valve keeps updating the title.Lastly, you can collect weapons, craft items, buy, trade, and wear many hats. Every apparel is available as in-game rewards, so you can play to earn the customization options for your favorite class. Overall, Team Fortress 2 is a superb game, a great entry ticket to the team-based PvP genre.
Rainbow Six Siege
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most popular Ubisoft games. In summary, it offers a team-based PvP FPS where you play as either criminal (defenders) or a Swat-like team (attacker). On your team of five “Operators,” you must carefully balance when to push and when to stand ground. It’s an intense battle of timing, strategy, and decision-making. However, anything you choose ends up in close-quarter combat and explosive action. The assaulting team can use a variety of gadgets and weapons. Each operator, the “heroes,” has particular guns, devices, and perks. Then, with their own bonuses and gadgets, the defensive team must coordinate when to create defensive structures, traps, and hideouts. The scenarios are narrow, full of places teams can destroy, barricade, reinforce, or explode.Overall, Siege is one of the best team-based battle games there is. The experience is quite intense, though, so this is not “casual fun.” Battles can be drawn out for minutes before anything happens, but everything can end up with a quick blast when it does.
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
The top of Steam’s free games might also be the most popular game like Overwatch. Except, it’s not really like Blizzard’s game, but we needed to add it either way.Why? Because CS: GO has been exploring and expanding upon the team-based PVP FPS genre for years. The difference is Counter-Strike uses a complex aim system with bullet calculations. Moreover, the game swaps hero powers for close-quarter combat and fast-paced shooting.Like previous games in the Half-Life spin-off series, there’re two opposing teams of five players. You play as either a Terrorist or a Counter-Terrorist on several game modes revolving around protecting or assaulting locations. Each match has various rounds, and players earn rewards at the end of the round, depending on their performance. The prize is the currency they can use to buy weapons, utility, armor, and rounds. Overall, CS: GO is a challenging, no-nonsense PvP shooter. It has a massive emphasis on player performance. Lastly, Valve has supported the title for over a decade, therefore adding multiple game modes, mod support, guns, events, and more.
Valorant
League of Legends creator’s Riot launched Valorant as a unique free-to-play game. The title mixes the FPS hero shooter genre with the complex aim and gameplay mechanics CS: Go has. Therefore, it can lure fans of both games. Valorant is, in essence, a team-based first-person hero shooter. Players choose from a set of “Agents,” heroes with unique abilities, weapons, and gameplay styles. Then, they enter as part of a 5-player team to face an opposing squad. The game mode sets the two teams on modes similar to pushing payloads or putting bombs on locations.Then, the Agents start with simple weapons as pistols. As the match goes on, players can buy new weapons by using in-game currency, rewards for their performance. But on top of individual performance, the game focuses on team strategy and synergies. You need to fulfill a role within your team and use your abilities in balance (defense, offense, support). Overall, Valorant is a very popular shooter. Compared to Overwatch, though, the gameplay is a bit more complex and challenging. In a way, it feels like a serious FPS with hero abilities, even though it also has a cartoonish style to lower PC requirements.
DOTA 2
DOTA 2 is a free-to-play classic MOBA. It’s a sequel to the first stand-alone MOBA game. That is, of course, after various fan-made modes on Blizzard’s Warcraft III, as well as the Orc Campaign in The Frozen Throne expansion.Be that as it may, DOTA 2 checks various Overwatch boxes. It has a unique and cartoonish art style, it features team-based PvP battles on areas, it has multiple heroes to choose from, it has a vast array of abilities, and it features deep lore. In a way, Overwatch feels like playing a MOBA with another perspective…and guns.So, on DOTA 2, you play on teams of five players. Players need to choose their heroes carefully to open up synergies. There’s also a counter system, so the teams must cover each other’s disadvantages. The goal is to destroy the other team’s base, but that includes advancing on the map through a series of mobs and towers.The gameplay has evolved a lot over the years. DOTA 2 is in constant evolution, with new heroes, features, and balance changes all the time. That said, play this at your own risk: the game’s community can be mildly toxic to beginners.
League of Legends
Speaking of MOBAS, we also have to mention one of the biggest games ever, League of Legends. We don’t know which is better (or more toxic) between LOL or DOTA 2. Still, we know LOL is becoming even more popular after its Netflix series, Arcane. Here, you play as part of a team of six champions. These champions are varied and fulfill various roles. Thus synergies and team strategy are paramount. Moreover, as you play and kill enemy players and mobs, heroes gain levels to develop their skills and buy gear. You start from scratch on every match nonetheless. Yet, there’s an overall character progression system. That makes LOL quite dependent on both your own skill, as well as team play. If you or your team die too much to the enemies, they will quickly outpace you in terms of level and gear.Aside from the main game mode, LOL also includes other types of games, both PvP and PvE. For example, it has The Path of Champions, a single-player narrative experience that explores the lore behind the characters, the war, the magic, and the overall setting.
Warframe
Warframe thrives on the kind of sci-fi and deep lore Overwatch offers, but it’s a different kind of game. With deep lore and a story that covers an eternal galactic war, Warframe delivers a multiplayer PvE experience.eIt’s also a free-to-play game and an action/adventure hero shooter. You play as Tenno, a soldier who uses advanced armors (Warframes) to fight across the stars. The gameplay, and the style, feel cartoonish and serious at the same time.Moreover, the gameplay is similar to Overwatch, as it has a mix of melee, shooting, and special abilities. That said, Warframe is an open-world game with complex story missions and outstanding set pieces. All of this becomes better if you play as part of a team. See, the game features a fair synergy system between different Warframes.The title also has PvP modes, a vast array of apparel, an arsenal of destructive weapons, spaceships, and much more. Warframe is consistently a top free-to-play game on Steam for many reasons. If you’re looking for fun, team-based games like Overwatch but with a single-player spin, this is your choice.
Destiny 2
Destiny 2, like Warfram, is a free-to-play PvE sci-fi looter shooter. You shoot at the bad guys, pick up guns and armor, and use the ability that comes with the class you choose. It’s a similar gameplay experience as Overwatch, but with a different game design.However, it’s not as “free” as Warframe. The F2P experience is not very good, as the game doesn’t make a particular effort to welcome new players. After a short tutorial mission, you join a massive, maze-like hub. There, you unlock free travels to multiple areas, a plethora of missions and side missions, and lore that’s hard to understand.If you keep buying the regular expansions, it becomes better…and expensive. Bungie keeps adding new classes while expanding the plot, the main quest, and the areas. It’s a cinematic story with challenging co-op missions and various team-based PvP modes. The complete Destiny 2 bundle defines the looter shooter genre by itself. For the story, you play as a Guardian, a defender of the Last City of humans in a solar system in war. You open a character and choose one of the classes. Then, you go ahead with the free experience that’s ultimately there to convince you to either buy the expansions or leave the game behind.
Rocket League
Rocket League seems like the farthest game from Overwatch. Yet, if you’re a fan of the Blizzard shooter, you may like Psionix’s competitive game.On Rocket League, you play 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4. You handle a car in a large football soccer arena with enormous goals and a big ball. You use your car’s rocket power to flip, swirl, and do all kinds of stunts to score a goal until the match ends.Like Overwatch, Rocket League is all about casual and relaxing fun- It’s the kind of game you play on your downtimes. Moreover, it’s easy to master, but we recommend using a controller when playing on a PC.Lastly, Rocket League has a unique art style that doesn’t ask much for your computer. The hybrid arcade soccer game also allows you to crossplay with your friends on other platforms.
PUBG: Battlegrounds
I wouldn’t have recommended PUBG before as one of the games like Overwatch. However, it’s currently free-to-play, so it became a massively popular game once again.PUBG is not as similar to Overwatch as you would expect, but it offers a similar experience. It’s casual yet challenging, and it’s silly fun. Also, it’s a team-based shooter where you join a match as part of a squad (2, 3, or four players) on Battle Royale maps with up to 100 players. There’re some tweaks as well. On the maps, you can loot weapons and supplies. These are important resources to survive until you’re the last man or the last team standing. And as in other Battle Royales, you parachute down to the map, and the map shrinks down until the end.Beware, though, doesn’t mean the developers suddenly fixed its problems because it’s now popular again. The game suffers from widespread hacking, performance issues, bots, and server instability. But hey, you don’t have to pay anything for the title.
Paladins
Paladins is another free-to-play PvP hero shooter. You play as part of a team of five players, and the goal is pushing a payload to its destination. Meanwhile, the other team will oppose resistance.This game mode works just as the Overwatch payload mode. The cargo will stop when no offensive team member is inside the radius. Moreover, if it’s idle for a while, it will move backward. Likewise, the “Champions” are unique heroes with magical abilities and weapons. However, you can further customize your abilities to tweak the gameplay to your liking. This works through the game’s “deckbuilding system,” allowing you to mix and match abilities from different heroes on the same Champion. Overall, Paladin offers casual fun, and an easy gameplay for younger audiences. Sadly, the game’s fan base is low, with about 6K concurrent players on Steam.
Ready or Not
Ready or Not is a realistic tactical first-person shooter. The developers worked with police officers worldwide to design the game’s systems. That includes ballistics calculations, bullet penetration, ricochet, projectile expansion, projectile momentum, kevlar functionalities, and plate dynamics.This is mostly a single-player game. You play as a SWAT officer, leading a co-op or AI squad of officers into hostile situations. The game offers a robust control system to handle your weapons, maneuvers, and commands.Before that, though, you need to organize a plan and approach the situations with strategy. More importantly, players can customize their weapons and gear to prepare themselves for the missions. Each scenario is unique, and therefore players need to approach each situation with different equipment. Mostly, these situations are about assaulting the bases of criminal organizations.Overall, Ready or Not is an option for those not looking to compete against other players. There’s also a PvP team-based game mode, but it’s currently a minor part of the game. That said, Ready or Not is an Early Access title.
