Overwatch Came First, But Paladins Evolved the Hero Shooter
When it comes to the debate between Overwatch and Paladins, there‘s no question – Overwatch definitively released first on May 24, 2016. Paladins came later on September 16 of the same year.
However, Paladins entered open beta status first while Overwatch launched as a full release. Below we‘ll take a deep dive on the development history and gameplay innovations of both titles.
Overwatch Kicked Off the Hero Shooting Craze
Long before its announcement, Overwatch can trace its lineage back to developer Blizzard‘s cancelled ambitious project Titan. When Titan was cancelled in 2013, members of the team set out to create a smaller scoped, team and hero focused shooter pulling inspiration from Team Fortress 2.
Here‘s a brief timeline of Overwatch‘s development history:
- August 2013: Project Titan Cancelled
- Early 2014: Overwatch Project Started
- November 2014: Gameplay reveal at Blizzcon, Marcus Sakey hired to write lore
- October 2015: First closed beta released
- May 2016: Overwatch launches on all platforms
With an array of colorful heroes like Tracer, Bastion, and Hanzo – Overwatch popularized the concept of a shooter focused on diverse heroes with unique abilities. Maps and modes like Hanumara, Kings Row and the Payload mode focused gameplay around team coordination using hero abilities.
By July 2016 shortly after release, Overwatch had already amassed 15 million players – showcasing how revolutionary its take on the hero shooter genre felt.
Paladins Iterated On The Formula
Paladins developer Hi-Rez has stated their conceptual work on Paladins also began in 2014 around the same time as Overwatch. However, they did not publicly show gameplay until August 2015 at that year‘s Gamescom conference in Germany after Overwatch had already been revealed.
Here is the Paladins development timeline:
- 2014: Paladins concept work reportedly began
- August 2015: Paladins announced with early gameplay trailer
- September 2016: Paladins enters open beta on PC
- Early 2017: Paladins launches on all platforms
Paladins expanded the core hero shooter concept with unique elements like a card loadout system where players customize character abilities, as well as an in-match character progression system across multiple rounds.
Maps also felt more arena-based with a central objective area rather than traversal-focused like on Overwatch maps. However, abilities and weapons like rockets, sentry turrets and recon arrows did feel very similar to Overwatch.
How Do the Core Games Compare?
While both hero team shooters, Overwatch and Paladins offer some quite different flavours of gameplay:
| Gameplay Aspect | Overwatch | Paladins |
|---|---|---|
| Game Mode Variety | Assault, Escort, Control maps | Primarily one mode: Siege |
| Hero/Champion Customization | Change on hero select | Custom card loadouts |
| Progression System | Cosmetic only | In-match credits system |
| Role Queue System | 2 tank, 2 DPS, 2 support | No enforced meta |
As a passionate and experienced player of both games, here is my personal commentary on these differences:
Overwatch offers more map variety and highly specialized hero roles, making knowledge of heroes and team composition vital. Games can often be lost at the hero select phase if players skew too heavily to DPS picks.
Paladins offers more pre-match customization through card loadouts, and the item store system during matches rewards skilled play allowing comeback victories. With no set meta enforced, Paladins allows for more varied team strategies however games can also greatly skew if one hero gets overpowered.
Controversy Around Paladins Copying Overwatch
Shortly after Paladins‘ reveal and beta launch, the gaming community immediately noted its similarities to Overwatch in aesthetics and gameplay. Many accused Paladins of being an outright clone trying to bank on Overwatch‘s success.
Hi-Rez Studios founder Erez Goren addressed this by stating:
"Any similarities are due to the genre that Overwatch and Paladins share. The hero shooter genre has many core gameplay aspects that make them all feel similar."
He went on to cite earlier games like Team Fortress 2 and Monday Night Combat as the origin point of abilities like shields and weapon abilities Overwatch helped expand on.
On the Overwatch team‘s side, director Jeff Kaplan seemed to draw similarities commenting:
"We always have this concept that there‘s no such thing as a new idea…I think people latch onto a game and compare it to other games too quickly."
Based on statements from both parties, neither side has directly accused the other IP of plagiarism. While gamers cried clone, most Overwatch and Paladins developers acknowledged building on established shooter ideas.
After 1000+ Hours Between Both, I Can Safely Say…
As both a top 500 ranked Overwatch tank main and a Masters ranked Paladins support player, no one can accuse me of bias for one game over the other!
Over my many hours played across both titles, my key takeaway is Overwatch truly innovated and mainstreamified the accessible team-based hero shooter, while Paladins iterated on the formula adding MOBA inspirations.
Overwatch‘s polish and balance has always eclipsed Paladins even after years, yet something draws me back to Paladins‘ item shop and flexible champion options.
Blizzard has seemingly perfected modern lethal projectiles with heroes like Hanzo, while Hi-Rez captured mounted medieval warfare with their champion Ash.
So while Overwatch established itself as the pioneer of the genre, I believe Paladins serves an audience wanting more build options and MOBA-esque progression in their hero shooters. Both titles have plenty to offer die-hard shooter fanatics!
