Bad decisions, excessive expectations and numerous mismanagement mean that we can only describe this as one of the biggest failures in history Activision Blizzard. Six years later Overwatch League completed what is slated to be his last season. A premature farewell to a contest that had ambitions to last more than ten years and which will die as it lived: without too much fanfare. In the last tournament, the most important of the year, it attracted just over 150,000 spectators at a time. For a league with so many years of experience, there are very few is charged to teams up to $10 million as a franchise.
Overwatch League’s demise
The decision to end the Overwatch League has not been officially confirmed, but both reports from Activision Blizzard employees and official statements from the company point to it. A special mention for the performance of Salome “Zombie” Gschwind, the leader of the league. Drawing strength from where there was no one to contain the emotions, he already meant the competition in the past. “Your passion, love and talent made this journey unforgettable for us (…) Now as we close this chapter, I think we should look back and remember the moments that took our breath away (…) It was ” an honor, a privilege and a joy to share this with all of you,” he concluded before breaking down in tears.
Other people associated with the major league Supervision They shared similar messages on social media. “I don’t know exactly what’s next, but I hope to stay involved in the Overwatch eSports scene for as long as possible,” said communications officer of one of the brigades. “It’s hard to put all your emotions and feelings into a tweet. The pageant changed my life and I couldn’t be more grateful.” – wrote one of the commentators. The anxiety in the messages, other than the goodbye sound, is that they came from uncertainty about what will happen in the future.
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) October 2, 2023
What went wrong with the Overwatch League? It is not possible to give only one answer. Activision Blizzard chose an unusual competition in eSports. The only major global league with teams tied to major cities around the world that didn’t use the names by which they were known, rebroadcast on streaming services that are little used by eSports fans, or a two-year hiatus from the news that came to the video game and it caused lack of interest in the community – some of the reasons. The contemporary context should also be noted. Even competitive games like League of Legends they suffer big challenges on his competitive scene.
The result of this situation was a unstable economic context. Clubs that invested millions to enter the league were not making a profit. It wasn’t just that they weren’t recouping their initial costs, but that the accounts were going negative every year they stayed in competition. Under these circumstances, Activision Blizzard is now offering them an “updated operating agreement.” According to all information, the clubs will refuse. This will have two consequences. On the one hand, closing the league. On the other hand, the company should to pay them six million dollars each as termination of the contract. A very juicy amount to compensate for the losses of these years.
The release of Overwatch 2 revived the league, but for a very short time.
There will be a next chapter for competitive Overwatch
The purchase of Activision Blizzard This raises even more doubts about the future, but all indications are that Overwatch will have a competitive system for next year. Official statements from eSports company officials read: “After the conclusion of the Overwatch League 2023 season, we will focus on creating a renewed vision for our eSports program. We look forward to sharing more information with you as we become clearer on the details.” However, it is unclear what tournament structure the hero shooter will have.
It seems reasonable to bet on a open model (tournaments with qualifiers available to all teams) are similar to tournaments Counter-Strike. Such formats are more interesting from the viewer’s point of view, which can increase the audience. They are also interesting for teams who, while facing more uncertainty by depending more on their athletic performance, also significantly reduce their operating costs. Overwatch had this system before the franchise’s main league was created, and the truth is that it produced acceptable results. However, it must be taken into account that at that time the title was just launched and was in its best form.
All indications are that we will learn more in the coming months. After Total, Microsoft may also have a say in all of this. While they will be more than happy to confirm their purchase of Activision Blizzard, they will also have to make decisions about these negative aspects of the company. A hot potato that, yes, they’ll probably have a relatively clear idea of how to proceed at this point.
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