"And just like that, after over 8 years of ups and downs, Paladins bows out as Marvel Rivals overtakes Overwatch 2 to rule the genre."
Paladins is struggling. It has always been the “second best” hero shooter and, for many years, the only free alternative to Overwatch.
However, with Overwatch going free-2-play and Marvel Rivals becoming the largest hero shooter on the market, Paladins has slumped to a distant third place, with roughly 1% of the number of active players enjoyed by Marvel Rivals and less than 10% that of its former rival Overwatch (2), even as the former king of the genre prepares to reinvent itself after being blindsided and dethroned by the popular marvel shooter.
While Overwatch can and most likely will recover and potentially reclaim the throne, Paladins is done for, and everyone, including No publisher available, knows it. As a result, most of the development team was laid off, and all ongoing development was halted in early 2025.
No, Paladins has lost its way and relied too heavily on sexualised female characters over making a game with wide market appeal; while some try to deny it and fight against it tooth and nail, the industry is changing for the better, and games that rely almost exclusively on making female characters sexy will continue to struggle in the months and years ahead, regardless of who is in the White House.
While some dismiss being concerned about the way female characters as portrayed as being “woke”, causing others to lust, and in fact, lusting after even fictional women is not only unhealthy but spiritually dangerous, with Jesus Christ having this to say on the matter.
Issues with its portrayal of female characters aside, Paladins was a decent enough free alternative to Overwatch. Still, with the entire development team being laid off or reassigned, there is no reason to play Paladins in 2025 or beyond.
"Forever controversial and killed off before its time, Star Wars Battlefront 2 remains popular with gamers old and new and will likely do so until Battlefront III (or yet another franchise reboot) occurs sometime later in the 2020s."
"The Concept of a first-person Fortnite mode is excellent; however, based on everything we have seen so far, Fortnite Ballistic doesn't have what it takes to compete with the market leaders."
"Counter-Strike 2 despite its age, remains one of the most played PC games globally and appears to be immune to changing trends and genre innovation."