The gaming industry had a phenomenal year in 2016. The industry is showing growth more and more each year. So many things happened during the past year like how Nintendo revealed its newest console, Hideo Kojima is back with his new game Death Stranding and the ending to a very popular Uncharted franchise. 2016 also saw the release of Overwatch. Most gamers are now familiar with the title whether they have played the game or not. Overwatch is the first IP in 20 years from gaming giant Blizzard and had a huge fan base with the game released in all major platforms.
Overwatch has taken the gaming world by storm and became a staple in the gaming industry. Overwatch bagged the title Game of the Year both at The Game Awards and the DICE Awards. People were thinking that a multiplayer-only game could not win the award over story rich games such as Uncharted 4. However, Overwatch indeed was named Game of the Year. So how did Overwatch grab the title?
It is now thought that Overwatch’s winning the title is because of cultural impact. Cultural impact is when hype is built around something that is novel. Take for example when GameBoy was the premium handheld device. People waited long hours outside stores to get their hands on the device. The same thing was seen with the original Xbox and Nintendo Wii. The same thing happened when PS4 came out. The most recent is Nintendo’s newest console the Switch.
Blizzard treated Overwatch with the best marketing for a video game. There were animated shorts that featured characters. Hidden lore were revealed behind the world of Overwatch, there were comics that also revealed backgrounds for the game in the expanding world of heroes. With the build up for the game so strong, it is this kind of marketing strategy that made Overwatch a very successful title, as reported by Mammoth.
The other titles that were nominated for the Game of the Year award were Doom, Titanfall 2, Inside, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The award was given to the game that delivers the absolute best experience across creative and technical fields which Overwatch has won. Uncharted 4 had the most nominations overall, as reported by GameSpot.
