We cannot understate how significant Overwatch esports will be this year, or even in the next five years. Blizzard Entertainment Inc. has announced its professional league, and with no competitors in sight, Overwatch esports will be a must-watch for all gamers.
Blizzard has quite the reputation for developing games that have solid foundations and can easily become competitive. Enter Starcraft: Brood War, one of the most revered RTS games in the history of Esports. In South Korea, professional players are treated like royalty; they are household names known nationwide for their talents.
The infrastructure of Starcraft 2 was built to accommodate the fans and players alike, offering constant content updates and complete customizability. The game itself evolved into an esport with few competitors but many viewers. Blizzard has always found ways to impact the esports scene, and Overwatch is no exception with the upcoming league.
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Talking about Overwatch Esports franchising :-
Overwatch esports will see franchising in many regions, offering guaranteed spots to teams that meet Blizzard’s performance standards. The first season of the league will be held offline, with exhibition matches at BlizzCon, which takes place November 4-5, 2016. Regular seasons will begin afterwards, and there will be a playoff for those who qualify at the end of each season. The winnings for the league’s first season is $1,000,000 (USD) and a guaranteed spot in Season 2.
The viewership for Overwatch esports will be huge; Blizzard has already announced sky-high expectations for this league. However, we cannot expect Blizzard to do everything perfectly on their first try. There will be growing pains as Blizzard gets used to the new esports frontier, but Overwatch’s popularity cannot be denied.
In addition, how Blizzard handles their players will go a long way in ensuring that those players will want to continue playing competitively. If the players are not protected and compensated accordingly for their efforts, they may look elsewhere. This could cause a problem with player retention and can cause Overwatch esports to suffer. All of the franchises set to compete in the first season of OWL must adhere to Blizzard’s commitment to treating its players well and not placing them at risk of physical harm.
Talking about Overwatch Esports future:-
The future of Overwatch Esports is still uncertain, but we can expect it to be just as big, if not even bigger, than other games that have already set a precedence for themselves in esports. With Overwatch being the first Blizzard title to have esports implications, we may see other titles from Blizzard studios become competitive games. To ensure Overwatch’s success, competitors will need to develop new strategies and constantly evolve in the long run. If Blizzard’s past titles are any indication, Overwatch will be a fun and engaging game to watch and play for years to come.
This is quite the change from other games such as League of Legends and DOTA 2, which require teams to qualify through an open bracket system to compete in their respective Internationals. This makes Overwatch esports extremely lucrative for all parties involved. The teams that qualify will have a guaranteed amount of money from sponsorships and advertisements, not to mention the fans purchasing their products.
It also ensures substantial support from the developers themselves with a professional circuit in which players can experience high stakes matches against some of the best talents in the world. Blizzard is impacting the esports scene, and we can’t wait to see what is in store for Overwatch.
