nuze#73
if we're strictly talking about the game's exposure there is no question the biggest thing that has affected it has been overwatch..
I wrote a bunch of words about OW actually increasing TF2's exposure and then realized I might be preaching to the choir. Now I don't wanna erase it. So, uh... if you did actually mean that OW has reduced TF2's exposure, please read, I guess.
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If we're strictly talking about "number of people who know competitive TF2 exists," I can't help but wonder if Overwatch might have increased that number. No doubt, high level players leaving TF2 have hurt the top level, but it's hard to say how much longer those people would have continued playing regardless of another FPS coming out. At some point in TF2, you either have to quit and make a living, or resign yourself to playing at a level much lower than you know you're capable of. I imagine that most of the players leaving for Overwatch did so for the opportunity of making a living playing a game they found fun without needing to break into an established scene; not necessarily because they thought Overwatch was a better game. And it's no secret that a huge number of top level OW players used to play TF2--honestly a stunning number considering how small this scene has always been. How many people following the OW scene would never have known about comp TF2 if not for the placement of those players? Sure, in the months leading up to OW's release the memes comparing the two games were rampant--but very few of those had anything to do with the competitive scenes of either game. It's still easy to doubt that anyone learning about comp TF2 through OW would ever make the leap to start playing it, but in terms of pure exposure, OW has probably helped the TF2 scene along.
Not to mention that Valve's decision to push TF2 MM coincided very oddly with OW. If you feel like extrapolating from there, you could argue that every player who learned about comp TF2 from Valve was actually exposed by OW.