One of the biggest struggles while gaming is not being able to use third party resources without switching screens or minimizing your game. While gamers with dual screens don’t usually have this issue, but not everyone has that luxury. For most people, using things like web browsers, WhatsApp, or other applications require you to stop your game temporarily and move to a different screen. Non-gaming computers can also find these additional applications to be overwhelming, and can slow down the game itself. This is where Overwolf comes in.
What is Overwolf?
Overwolf is a gaming extension platform. It housing a variety of apps that add overlays and functionality to games that they didn’t previously have. It’s similar to how many games innate addon functions work. A good comparison would be addons in World of Warcraft. These addons are created by third parties, and the game allows them to edit overlay functionality without Blizzard needing to do it themselves. This way, there are numerous possibilities for overlay functions, based off fan creation.
Overwolf works similar to this by allowing applications to change the overlay of a game that doesn’t innately feature addons like World of Warcraft does. The only difference is that Overwolf’s applications only affect the Overwolf overlay featured on top of the game, rather than World of Warcraft changing the UI itself. This works especially well for competitive online games that don’t have customizable overlays, like Heroes of the Storm, or League of Legends.
Why do eSports teams use it?
The main appeal of Overwolf is that it allows you to use other applications without minimizing your gaming browser. This means that streamers can use it to interact with their Twitch fans, and eSports teams can use it to interact with each other in ways that a game might not let them by itself.
Because Overwolf only affects the overlay of game, and not the actual gameplay, there are no concerns for cheating or affecting the game itself in some way. This means that eSports teams can use it without worrying about being accused of cheating with a third party extension, but they can also do things that they would normally have to minimize the game browser for. They may want to interact with their fans, or be reminded of important game information when it’s necessary (such as being reminded of an enemy hero’s ability in Heroes of the Storm that they may have forgotten in the moment).
Overwolf changes the gaming experience from being exclusively focused on the game itself. The application can be used for numerous activities, and can really enhance the experience of gaming. It’s no wonder that eSports players are taking advantage of this useful tool, instead of relying on background applications that they would need to switch screens to view.
