The tale of Overwatch is one that begins with great success and was seemingly ending in relative failure, with the rebranding to Overwatch 2 ultimately doing more harm than good – especially as many of the ‘sequel’s promised features never came to be. Following the surprise announcement that the game is now dropping the 2 (among other welcome changes) Overwatch’s popularity has already seen a resurgence on Steam.

Despite the upcoming Season of Overwatch not yet going live, it appears as though many of the changes announced to be arriving with the relaunch have led to a great deal of excitement.

Though we only have one platform to go off of, in anticipation of the new Season 1, Overwatch has seen a major influx of players, with Steam concurrent numbers putting the title at 69,881 players – the highest figure since the game’s launch all the way back in 2023 (where it achieved a peak CCU of 75K).

Of course, of all platforms, Steam is likely one of the smallest for Overwatch, especially as Blizzard/Activision’s own Battle Net launcher takes priority on PC. That said, we will likely see a similar rise in interest across the board, especially once Season 1 actually launches. In case you missed it, full details on what to expect from this rebrand / overhaul can be found HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the changes coming? Was the removal of the 2 necessary? Will this latest overhaul help them compete with Marvel Rivals? Let us know down below.

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While many expect the next-generation PlayStation 6 to be somewhat inline with Sony’s current console strategy, Microsoft’s next console is set to take things in quite the different direction. While details surrounding Xbox’s next-gen plans have leaked out in the past, we’ve now gotten newly updated specifics.

As reported by known Xbox insider Jez Corden (via Windows Central), the next-gen Microsoft console will seemingly function somewhat similarly to the ROG Xbox Ally – meaning “the Xbox interface will sit on top of Windows, disabling unnecessary processes to create a gaming-first environment.” As with the Ally, you will also be able to “exit out to full Windows.”

Of course, plans are subject to change, with Corden noting that Microsoft’s work on Windows 11 is still ongoing, writing: “Microsoft hasn't fully internally committed to a hard 2027 launch window for the next-gen Xbox platform, since so much of it hinges on improvements to Windows 11 and other factors. Microsoft's Windows and Xbox teams are collaborating harder than ever to get the OS into shape for a polished, console-like experience on Xbox.”

Beyond the mainline console, Microsoft is reportedly planning to continue their relationship with hardware manufacturers in the development of partnered consoles like the aforementioned ASUS ROG Ally – though they are also apparently still interested in making their own first-party handheld.

Of course, all of this is subject to change, especially as Microsoft has been pretty fickle in recent months/years. Regardless, it will be interesting to see what the console maker’s plans are for Xbox in this post-exclusive era.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Xbox’s leaked plans? Will this strategy succeed? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post Insider offers additional details on next-gen Xbox plans first appeared on KitGuru.

Team Ninja’s Nioh series has served as a solid take on FromSoftware’s Souls-like genre, with the first entry in 2017 doing enough to separate itself from other titles – though ultimately was not received as well as FromSoft’s soulsborne entries. While Nioh 2 was also received in a similar manner, it appears as though 3rd time was the charm, with the recently-released Nioh 3 achieving high praise and even higher player numbers.

With a Metacritic score of 86 and an OpenCritic rating of 85, Nioh 3 is right in line with its past two entries critically. However, when it comes to interest surrounding the title, the threequel is reaching new heights, amassing a concurrent player count of over 88k on Steam.

This marks a major record for publisher Koei Tecmo, with Nioh 3 seeing the highest peak CCU of any game on Steam from the publisher (with second place being the Team Ninja-developed Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty).

Nioh 2 meanwhile peaked at a CCU of 41k, with the original Nioh being all the way down at just 10k concurrents. It is worth noting however that Nioh 3 marks the first entry in the series to launch day-and-date on PC alongside PlayStation, and so this likely aided in its overall interest.

Regardless, Nioh 3 seems to be the step up that the series needed in order for it to be placed on almost-equal footing with FromSoftware’s own output. It will be interesting to see where Team Ninja goes from here.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Nioh 3? Is it a step up compared to the previous two entries? Does Team Ninja have the potential to go toe-to-toe with FromSoftware? Let us know down below.

The post Nioh 3 breaks records with highest Steam CCU in publisher history first appeared on KitGuru.

Following leaks and rumours, Guerrilla Games officially announced and unveiled Horizon Hunters Gathering: a co-op focused title in the vein of Monster Hunter. In the wake of its announcement, known insider Jason Schreier confirmed that the project is being developed by the core Horizon team – and so don’t expect a proper Horizon 3 any time soon.

Following the official announcement for Horizon Hunters Gathering, fans of the franchise took to BlueSky to ask known industry insider Jason Schreier as to whether this spin-off is “being made by a separate team from Horizon 3?”

According to Schreier, “most of the studio” is working on Hunters Gathering. When asked for clarification as to whether this means the next mainline entry is a “long time” away from release, Schreier simply responded: “yup.”

Given the fact that Horizon Forbidden West launched back in 2022 (and that games are taking longer and longer to develop) there was little expectation that a 3rd entry was right around the corner.

That said, with a majority of devs working on Hunters Gathering, it appears as though the focus right now is on ensuring the co-op title proves to be a success.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Hunters Gathering? Will it fill your Horizon itch? Are you more interested in it or the NCSOFT-developed Steel Frontiers? Let us know down below.

The post Don’t expect Horizon 3 to be announced any time soon first appeared on KitGuru.