There’s been plenty going on recently with Activision Blizzard, with the biggest thing being how the company has gotten the green light to be bought by Microsoft, potentially changing the gaming landscape as a result. But the other big piece of news hitting the internet is talk about the future of the Overwatch League. If you recall, this massive eSports league was supposed to be a “game-changer” on how eSports were done and push Activision Blizzard to new heights and popularity. But it didn’t work out that way, and now many wonder if the league will continue as we know it.
As reported by The Verge, Activision Blizzard has already “taken steps” to brace for such changes, as they released 50 people from their eSports division. That came as a shock to many, not the least was the people who got laid off:
“There was no warning,” one of them noted. “This was a complete shock to everyone, and none of us who were laid off were offered any opportunity to switch roles or teams.”
That’s a very harsh thing to do to a group if true, and yet, it would line up with the various accusations made against Activision Blizzard over the years about how they handle their employees.
In contrast to that statement, Activision Blizzard senior director Brad Crawford stated:
“We remain committed to the future of esports, and we regularly assess how our staffing aligns with our business goals to ensure we can evolve with changing trends and best deliver for our teams, players, and fans. As always, supporting our employees through transition is our top priority.”
So at this point, you might ask yourself, “What is going on with Overwatch League?” Well, despite having a red-hot start, things immediately cooled down right after. The global pandemic didn’t help things, and to make matters worse, certain teams straight-up dropped out of the league. eSports as a whole hasn’t been doing well, both viewership-wise and sponsorship-wise.
To that end, the league itself might be going through a major overhaul, with several teams dropping out and taking severance packages instead of going forward.
It doesn’t help that Blizzard’s sequel title to the game has been met with much disappointment among gamers. Many haven’t liked Blizzard’s changes, and things keep getting worse via the lack of PVE content.
That’s not to say that a league like this can’t work in the future, but it’s not working right now and it’s costing people jobs.
