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Overwatch porn in 2021, and why people are still thirsty for it

Overwatch porn has been a phenomenon since 2016; the year Blizzard released its family friendly shooter and then watched on in horror as its colourful cast of characters got better acquainted on Pornhub.

The fact that Overwatch porn is still inescapable in 2021 is somewhat surprising to me. As someone who has never actually typed the term into a search bar (well at least before I started researching this article), I haves still long been aware of its – how should I put this – prominence in various corners of the Internet.

Now don’t get me wrong, Overwatch porn has every right to exist and be enjoyed by those who find it titillating. It’s far from the most surprising video game inspired porn I’ve come across and, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t worth getting too worked up about. Which is to say, I understand its appeal far more than something like Sonic the Hedgehog porn.

overwatdh porn
Image: Overwatch / Blizzard

Its cast of characters is relatively diverse, even including a giant gorilla for those with a taste for more animalistic lovemaking (sorry, not funny), and could be described as a having a little bit of something for everyone. And while not overtly sexual in their original depictions, there are probably enough curves to encourage the formation of a few new ones.

Still, it’s been over five years since the game was released. Most scientific research on the matter demonstrates that our response to a particular porn video decreases with the number of times we are exposed to it; meaning that we are constantly on the prowl for something fresh and exciting. And Overwatch porn is most certainly not that anymore.

winston shocked
Image: Overwatch / Blizzard

Why Overwatch porn has persevered

One of the contributing factors to Overwatch porn’s continued popularity is the success of the game on which it’s based. However, more important than the game’s commercial success is its innovative release model. Unlike many other video games, Overwatch has regularly been expanded upon with gameplay updates and the introduction of new playable characters.

Which if you think about it, actually explains a lot. First of all, fans aren’t stepping away from the game after they’ve finished its main campaign, as they often do with other titles. But even more importantly, with each new character added comes new erotic possibilities for porn enthusiasts to explore.

Essentially, Overwatch porn piggybacks off the creativity and longevity of its source material.

This hypothesis is backed up by stats released by Pornhub, which in 2018 showed huge increases in the number of searches for the terms ‘Overwatch’ and ‘Bridgette’ after that character was added to the game in an official game update. The same exact thing happened when Ashe was added six months later.

overwatch porn brigitte
Image: Pornhub Insights

New competition from other popular video game porn

The most recent data available from Pornhub shows that Overwatch porn was still firmly at the top of all video game searches at the start of 2020. However, there is reason to believe that a few of its closest competitors may have closed the gap in the time since.

Fortnite, Pokemon, Minecraft, and Apex Legends were the other most searched video game properties back in 2019.

lady dimitrescu
Images: Resident Evil Village / Capcom

Resident Evil though wasn’t far behind them, and considering the success of Resident Evil Village earlier this year (not to mention viral villainess Lady Dimitrescu) it almost certainly enjoyed a spike in traffic.

Final Fantasy searches also enjoyed a revival after Final Fantasy 7 Remake was released; peaking at a 7613% increase over its daily average three days after the game launched.

Interestingly, Overwatch porn searches were the most popular searches before and after users searched for Final Fantasy porn, perhaps implying that all it did was remind users of their thirst for the OG: Overwatch porn.

overwatch porn
Image: Pornhub

The future of Overwatch porn

With Blizzard caught in the midst of controversy, it appears that titles such as Overwatch 2 may be significantly delayed… you see where I’m going with this don’t you? Without Overwatch 2, there can’t be any Overwatch 2 porn, which will likely hit the porn industry right in the sacred coin purse.

Not really though. Overwatch porn still enjoys such popularity that it has become a commonly used tag by amateur pornstars trying to expand their audience. A quick investigation shows that new 3D animations are regularly uploaded, cosplay videos are still getting views, and titles like ‘boyfriend trying to play Overwatch so I blew him‘ are implausibly common.

 

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So to put it bluntly, people in 2021 are still thirsty for Overwatch porn, and the river from which they drink is flowing wildly.