Is ‘Paladin: Champions Of The Realm’ An ‘Overwatch’ Clone Or Its Own Success Story?

In November, after a very popular shooter game from Hi-Rez Studios, “Paladins: Champions of the Realm” breached 4 million players, it was inevitably compared to “Overwatch” and dismissed as a clone. It hit the 4 millionth player mark just two months after the video of “Paladins: Champions of the Realm” was released and went into open beta. After comments on forums, social media and video spread, the comparison between the two video games became hotter.

Too Close To Imaginary Line

While Forbes points out that the “Paladins: Champions of the Realm” had not done “anything malicious” with its character design, it released those types of heroes when “Overwatch” dominated the market. GameSpot believes that “Paladins: Champions of the Realm” came too close to an imaginary line in the sand. But other publications, such as PVP Live, The Escapist and IBT all described “Paladins: Champions of the Realm” as an “’Overwatch’ clone.”

To defend “Paladins: Champions of the Realm,” Todd Harris, chief operating officer of Hi-Rez, commented in September in a Reddit post that the studio has been developing the video game for a long time, at about the same time that Blizzard was developing “Overwatch.” Harris adds that it is next to impossible for a studio their size to clone “Overwatch” in one year. He stressed that Hi-Rez has shared elements publicly of both games in a footage even before “Overwatch” announced its details, IGN reports.

Positive Side To Controversy

These consists of uploaded videos and screenshots which show character abilities, early class prototypes and reward chests that date back to “Paladins: Champions of the Realm” pre-alpha days. Harris further stresses “Overwatch” was not the inspiration for “Paladins: Champions of the Realm.”

But while Harris admits that “Paladins: Champion of the Realm” being called an "'Overwatch’ clone” could be frustrating, he sees a bright side to the controversy. He says it is better being talked than being ignored. “If headlines are being written and people are talking about you, that’s better than throwing your rock into the pond and not making a wave,” he reasons, Twinfinite quotes.