Ever since Overwatch Workshop was introduced in 2019, it’s been a great way to kill time while matchmaking and also given players the opportunity to do some incredibly creative things with a very simple scripting system. I’ve spent far too many hours in the fashion show and big boss battle-style custom games, but now I think I’ve found a new favourite.
As spotted by Andy Bohan on Twitter, user LemonFruit has managed to create an entire rhythm game using the limited scripting tools offered. It does require a little more than just Overwatch to get running—you’ll need a virtual audio device like Voicemeeter as well as the latest Java Development Kit. But from there, the host can feed music which will sync up with the game and play for everyone else in the room.
LemonFruit has made guitar hero in the @PlayOverwatch workshop. The music is coming out of their mic via a program, and its synced up to ingame.This is amazing. Also I suck at rhythm games srycode: https://t.co/jmxj0dDkw7 pic.twitter.com/XdtdLFTfLaJuly 2, 2022
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It plays most similarly to games like DJ Max, though it’s also got a very Guitar Hero-y vibe to it. There’s an accuracy percentage, different scoring for how good your note timing is and a combo counter. It is a little finicky and the timing isn’t perfect, which isn’t ideal for a rhythm game. Regardless, it’s an incredible look at just how versatile something like Overwatch Workshop can be. If I had been shown the video without any context, I would’ve had no idea that it was something created in a team shooter’s custom game mode.
If you fancy trying it out for yourself, generally searching up “rhythm game” in the custom games browser will flag up a game or two being hosted. If there are none, you can try and set it up for yourself using the workshop code.