There's an ongoing debate of whether or not Paladins is an Overwatch rip-off (or perhaps, the other way around). Either way, the former is definitely gaining a huge following. Just now, Hi-Rez's multiplayer game has passed the 4 million mark, at least, on PC. Apart from that, the title is also deemed as one of the most popular titles on Steam.
The official Steam site of Paladins announced that the title -- which many believe is a complete copy of Blizzard's Overwatch -- has finally surpassed the aforementioned player pool mark. The studio's very own Todd Harris even stated that, by far, the "worldwide response" to the game is all but "incredible." That the game continues to expand "week-over-week," starting the day the title's Steam Open Beta was launched sometime in September.
As per the latest Paladins Steam data, the f2p (free-to-play) game is ranked as the 7th most popular game on the online platform. The data basically refers to the player count the title acquired since then. As of this writing, the game has reached a figure of around 42,000 players. It's worth noting that Hi-Rez is also the developer of another hit MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game called Smite.
Harris iterated that the achievement Paladins obtained was all due to the community. That without the latter, it would be impossible for such feat to conquer. With this, it's their duty to continue to hear "all of the player feedback" -- something that they'll be using to improve the title as each day passes by.
Paladins is currently available only to PC via Steam Early Access. However, the studio has revealed their plans to introduce the game to both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. There's no specific date as of when, though. Furthermore, the game is expected to be brought to China thanks to the studio's partnership with Tencent.
As being coined as an Overwatch rip-off, the developers of Paladins has since debunked the idea. That rather, in one way or another, it got its inspiration from Team Fortress 2, a team-based first-person shooter game developed by Valve. In reality, though, one can't deny the fact that in terms of abilities and looks, the two games don't differ that much. There's definitely a similarity between the two.
What are your thoughts on Paladins being among the most popular games in Steam? How about the talks about it being an Overwatch clone? Which one is your most and/or least favorite? Let us know what you think at the comment section below!
