'Overwatch' Is Now Blizzard's New Money-Making Machine, Blizzard To Share More On Upcoming Anniversary Event

Blizzard has some big news for the fans of its popular shooter game "Overwatch." Blizzard's popular multiplayer shooter game is now the studio's newest money-making machine after it reached a whopping $1 billion in revenue sales. Blizzard made the huge announcement this week.

In less than a year, the Blizzard's team-based online multiplayer first-person shooter game has become its fastest-growing new franchise, hitting over 30 million registered users globally and around $1 billion in revenue sales. The Irvine, California-based game developer revealed the big news during its recent earnings report, calling "Overwatch" "the 8th billion-dollar franchise in Activision Blizzard's portfolio, the Polygon reported.

The multiplayer shooter game, which made its first debut in May 2016, continued to be Blizzard's fastest growing new franchise, joining long-running franchises like "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft." Much of Overwatch's billion dollar revenues is said to come from sales of the game itself, microtransactions like loot boxes and in-game purchases also make up a big chunk of that billion dollar figure.

Since its launch in May 2016, Blizzard has regularly released an update and seasonal events just to keep those millions of "Overwatch" fans fully engaged. The game's growing popularity and massive reach helped drive Blizzard to its best quarter ever, amassing a whopping 41 million monthly active users across all games, the website added.

Overwatch isn't the only Blizzard's franchise that has reached a major milestone. Blizzard's free-to-play digital card game "Hearthstone" has also hit 70 million registered users recently. As for the studio's eSports effort, Blizzard eSports head Mike Morhaime said during a conference call this week that the company is on track to kick off "Overwatch" League competition later this year.

Meanwhile, a new "Overwatch" Anniversary Event leak has arrived, confirming the next Blizzard hero that will be added to the Overwatch's roster. The much-talked Doomfist will be launched in the coming days ahead of the new Anniversary Event, which said to likely drop on May 24, the Daily Express reported.

However, Doomfist is not the only hero that expected to arrive here. Some "Overwatch" news suggests that Doomfist will be followed by two or more "Overwatch" hero. Fans are speculating about Bria and Ivon, which will reportedly play a defensive role, although there's still no official words about this.

Additionally, recent data mining works also show that Overwatch fans will likely get a new map and title screen to celebrate the game's one-year anniversary. Data mining has recently gained some buzz and attention after dataminers found some clues hiding in the game's PTR.

Blizzard's release date anniversary for its multiplayer shooter game "Overwatch" will takes place on May 24. Blizzard is expected to share exciting news about the game on the upcoming "Overwatch" Anniversary event.