Activision announces that Blizzard Entertainment's arena shooter Overwatch surpasses 15 million players, as the community gets ready for the Overwatch Cup this fall.

Blizzard's arena shooter Overwatch was a success right out of the gate, snagging 7 million players in the first week after servers went live. Since then, Blizzard has worked hard to keep the game's community engaged via regular updates, including the introduction of a Competitive Play mode and the arrival of Overwatch's first post-launch hero.

Now, it appears that all of the developer's hard work has paid off, as Overwatch is now officially north of 15 million players. Blizzard parent company Activision Blizzard made the announcement on Thursday, according to Video Gamer. The original 7 million figure was announced at the very start of June, so it's safe to assume that Overwatch gained an impressive 8 million players in just a little over two months.

Activision says the 15 million number includes "box and digital sales, internet game room players, and multi-user console households." Reading into that statement a little further, it would appear that Blizzard hasn't actually sold 15 million copies and is including multiple players accessing one copy of the game, but it's an impressive feat nonetheless.

Activision Blizzard also announced that Overwatch broke the previous record set by Diablo 3 in China to become the fastest-selling PC game in that country's history. Overwatch is also currently the number one game in Korean Internet game rooms, accounting for 30 percent of all play time, unseating League of Legends from the top spot.

We can't say we disagree with the numbers, as Game Rant named Overwatch one of the top games of 2016 so far. There may be other FPS games out there with a higher skill cap, but Blizzard's attention to polish, detail, and fan service is second to none. One would expect these numbers to continue to climb in the months ahead, with Blizzard using promotions like Seasonal Events to keep players engaged. A free trial may also be on the horizon.

In other news, Blizzard also announced the Overwatch World Cup yesterday. Fans of the game will be able to vote for which teams and individuals should represent their nation starting August 11. The teams chosen will compete in September, with the winners getting to play for the championship at Blizzcon 2016. More details are available on the official Overwatch blog. Overwatch has maintained a pretty sizeable following on Twitch since it launched, but if it's going to be the game that helps push eSports to new heights, the World Cup would be a great place to start.

Overwatch is out now for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Source: Video Gamer