It has now been a month for the reason that Overwatch League successfully got here to a tentative closure, following the affirmation that Blizzard can be shutting down the match in the intervening time. This information got here amidst a want to ‘redesign’ the Overwatch League and recoup a few of the monetary losses that the corporate has eaten on account of the floundering esports ecosystem connected to Overwatch. It has been steered that Blizzard will look to outsource the Overwatch League going ahead, however to whom?
In a report published by Jacob Wolf, it was confused that the Overwatch League – the ‘costliest esports league ever produced’ – is on the cusp of a paradigm shift. It’s set to vary without end, with Blizzard redesigning it from the bottom up. Not simply that, however the main suggestion now’s that Blizzard will actively outsource the administration and operation of the Overwatch League, beginning with the 2024 season, to a third-party organiser.
And evidently the frontrunner for that duty is the Saudi-backed ESL FACEIT Group.
The Way forward for the League
For the previous few months, groups competing within the Overwatch League have been toiling with the uncertainty of their future within the recreation. There was a proposal from Blizzard to pay again a whopping $6 million to every organisation that purchased into the Overwatch League when it was stood up, a paltry sum contemplating the unique buy-in charges and the upkeep prices within the years that adopted. Nonetheless, it was the most effective plan of action for these trying to shut down the poorly managed esports match, and that’s what could possibly be about to occur.
There was quite a lot of doubt and disruption unfold all through Blizzard’s esports ecosystem in latest weeks. Following the closure of the cope with Microsoft, Activision Blizzard now falls underneath the banner of the titanic tech agency. Towards the tail finish of the summer time, Blizzard suffered from layoffs, and naturally, the Overwatch League’s future got here into query. At this level, it’s anybody’s guess as to what occurs subsequent, however some organisations are clinging to the notion that there will probably be an Overwatch League sooner or later – it’ll simply be outsourced.
After all, that’s not an idea that’s with out its pitfalls. In the previous few months, the Saudi Arabian-back Savvy Video games Group has been on a development mission, increasing throughout the globe and buying or partnering with numerous companies. On the same word, the Saudi Esports Federation has additionally been rising at an exponential fee, main many to concern the way forward for esports, significantly in that area.
It have to be confused that there’s nonetheless an enormous viewers for Overwatch esports. For the time being, the Overwatch World Cup 2023 is taking part in out to an enormous viewers that has peaked at round 318,000 viewers. If the Overwatch League is redesigned and redeployed successfully, it might imply a resurgence for a recreation that has been treading water for a while now.
