"Paladins" game developer Hi-Rez COO Todd Harris published a post on Reddit that revealed a detailed timeline of the game's development. Harris responded to claims that "Paladins" is a knockoff of Blizzard's hero shooter game, "Overwatch". According to Hi-Rez, "Paladins" may have been more inspired by "Team Fortress 2" rather than "Overwatch".
"Paladins" was not inspired by "Overwatch", Harris told IGN. The characters in the game who may resemble the "Overwatch" characters have been available and playable in the "Paladins" beta even before similar character abilities were seen in Blizzard's game. A video was spotted online showing off the similarities between "Paladins" and "Overwatch". The video since had 2.7 million views as of this writing. However, it should be noted that the closed beta for "Paladins" began in November 2015 while the "Overwatch" closed beta began in October 2015.
"Paladins" is now available on Steam free of charge via Early Access. By comparison, the "Overwatch" is a paid game. Blizzard had not yet released a statement about the comparisons. Additionally, Hi-Rez also developed "Smite", an update that added a new co-op mode and more on Xbox One and PS4, Playstation Lifestyle reported.
Meanwhile, "Overwatch" gamers reportedly asked Blizzard to add a minimap to the game's display to ease taking note of their environment at any given point in the game. Blizzard reportedly responded a firm "no" to the requests. Game Director Jeff Kaplan recently posted in the "Overwatch" forums that minimaps for observers may be a possibility especially when it comes to eSports but none for players.
Adding that minimaps do not really help learn the map faster than by playing it a few times. The tendency, Kaplan added, is for players to demand more information on minimaps especially regarding enemies.
"Paladins" is said to lean more on "Team Fortress 2". A TF2 inspired class-based shooter called Global Agenda was released in 2010. "Paladins" was created as a fantasy version of Global Agenda and of the 85 combat abilities in the "Paladins" game. Watch "Overwatch" VS. "Paladins" VS. "Team Fortress 2" below.
