Blizzard has ended the Overwatch League.
In a statement to PC Gamer, Blizzard shared this message:
“We are transitioning from the Overwatch League and evolving competitive Overwatch in a new direction,” a spokesperson said. “We are grateful to everyone who made OWL possible and remain focused on building our vision of a revitalized esports program. We will share details with you all in the near future.”
This news should not be taken as the end of Overwatch as an esports game or a competitive community. Rather, its Blizzard choosing to end their current program as it exists. But first, let’s find out what this cancelled program even was.
Overwatch League was launched in 2016. Distinguishing itself from other esports leagues, because the teams were not based on the companies backing them, but were based on different cities. Like leagues in non-video game sports teams, teams would play home and away matches, with annual seasons that led to a playoff series and a championship. If it worked out, Blizzard could have been touting their league like sports teams more than esports leagues.
As we know, things did not turn out for Overwatch League, but these had nothing to do with the skill or enthusiasm of the players. The league started slow because of the expensive costs of starting these teams, with base franchise fees at $ 20 million.
This was complicated by the entry of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then the 2021 discrimination and sexual misconduct scandals at Blizzard themselves. Other esports leagues have been faltering because of the dubious profitability of the companies running the esports teams themselves, but Overwatch League never even got that far that it could have emerged as a problem.
We had reported on Blizzard offering existing Overwatch League teams $ 6 million to call it quits. We now know that most, but not all, of those teams have accepted the offer. Some people who were in this scene say that Blizzard is actually in talks with third parties to come back with a new league in 2024.
So, as unlikely as it sounds, the shuttering of Overwatch League may actually be the best thing Blizzard has done for Overwatch esports. Blizzard, now under Xbox, will have to take precautions to avoid the circumstances leading to the decline of esports for other video games, but this break may be the perfect opportunity to do the research and groundwork for precisely that.
