I'm just going to post this, regret posting it, then ignore all the comments that follow it (not you guys, this was for the Youtube post ). Probably going to copy/paste it in a few forums since I've been debating this in my mind for awhile now:

I've played Paladins since about October last year and I love it. I've also seen a lot of Overwatch stuff and recently bought it during the Anniversary sale. Love it too.

When I first started playing Paladins, I really didn't pay much attention to the "OMG RIPOFF" stuff, even though I've noticed a lot of stuff. There's a lot of similarities in the characters, no doubt. Same can be said for Team Fortress 2, which both of these games draw inspiration from.

But anyway, with this new Champoin (as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4fdxUd8U9U ), and after finally playing Overwatch myself, I'm going to say it: An Asian guy who can deflect attacks with a sword, then dash forward to attack sounds pretty similar to Genji. They're different, but you can't deny there's something there. Add to that he can turn to smoke and move faster sounds similar to Reaper. His basic attacks can also be compared to Reinhardt's Fire Strike ability. Little bits and pieces everywhere.

Add to that other characters who are either similar in appearance and/or abilities, and you have a heck of a lot to talk about: *Torbjorn and Barik* (no explanation needed), *Skye and Sombra* (both purple wearing stealth flankers), *Reaper and Androxus* (just the looks here, they play much different from each other), *Widowmaker and Kinessa* (only differences are appearance and ult, but Cassie takes Widowmaker's ult), *Soldier: 76 and Viktor* (soldiers who use guns and sprint), *Hanzo and Sha Lin* (both use bows and can easily kill you), *Pharah and Drogoz* (both fire rockets and have jet packs to fly around), *Mei and Evie* (both can turn to ice blocks to protect and heal themselves, plus have similar aoe ults that are ice based), *D.Va and Ruckus* (both small characters that pilot mech suits, but D.Va is cuter and Bolt just laughs as you die instead of ejecting you), *Roadhog and Makoa* (both use chains to pull you in and blast you in the face)....I could keep going, but you get the idea.

That being said, I couldn't tell you who ripped off who...if there even is any ripping off (but given all the similarities....). It'd be like answering the age old question, "Which came first: The chicken, or the egg?" Both have been in development for ages now, and both have had their characters in the planning stages for just as long. I will say that, while Overwatch has most of it's characters from it's launch, the majority of characters I've mentioned were released after Overwatch's initial release date... But again, development time makes that fact a bit moot.

Now, I've gone on about how similar the games are, but I've only mentioned the characters. Honestly, that's about the only thing these games have similarities in (except for the fact that both can have toxic players and community members, but that's anything with the word "online" in it nowadays :P ). And there are some characters that are very unique to each game. Heck, even some of the characters I've mentioned have their own unique twists to their gameplay (though, some can be found in other characters...).

The gameplay itself in these games have a very different feel from each other (even though they're both the same genre). Both have some similar game modes (like payload pushing and capture points), but each one feels much different from the other. Maps are vastly different in both games (most of Overwatch's maps feel longer and more complex, while most of Paladins are simpler, and have straightforward paths to follow (game modes do play a factor in this however)). There's also the fact you can switch characters in Overwatch, but not Paladins. Meanwhile in Paladins, you can customize load outs and items for your characters, but in Overwatch, what you see is what you get.

There's also the loot systems that feel very different. Paladins has in game currency you can earn by playing and spend on stuff, plus currency you can buy with actual money. There's also a wide variety of chests that you can buy or earn for random items (including exclusives). Overwatch has the chest system, and you can earn them (mainly through leveling up), but that's it. The in game currency use to buy anything is only found in those chests. There's also no currency you can buy with irl money. You can buy chests with irl money, but that's it. The drops are a bit odd at times (I've gotten mostly player icons and sprays it feels like), and the currency is very hard to earn (only through rare drops and duplicate item drops), so I do give a +1 to Paladins for it's vastly superior loot system (though it is annoying at times as well...).

Anyway, I think I've covered just about everything I see in these two games, so I'll end this post here since it's turning into a wall that Trump would be proud of (OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH SNAP! Political joke!).