Blizzard is making huge waves right now, as the highly anticipated “Overwatch League” has been officially launched. This is a major milestone in the whole eSports community, as something like this has never been done before.
“Overwatch League” basically sets the stage for national competitions, something that is new in the history of eSports. Blizzard has definitely created an Olympic-themed competition, one that would find nations going up against nations in friendly matches. Right now, it is all the buzz in the video game industry.
Introducing the premier ‘Overwatch League’
According to RollingStone, the League gathers a total of 32 teams from five contents, though no African teams received an invitation. They are then separated into eight groups of four, enough to give the tournament a window for competition. Interestingly, Blizzard decided to spread the group stages across multiple weekends in multiple cities. Take for instance this weekend: there are a total of eight national teams, which are China, Hong Kong, Romania, Argentina, Thailand, Denmark, and France. They all have gathered in Shanghai to conduct the first phase of the group stage. The following weekend, another eight teams will go toe to toe in Sydney and will be followed by Katowice.
Although it remains unannounced, last stop will be at the United States.
“Overwatch League” almost took a fall after reports of eSports owners and franchise organizations stepping out. They all expressed their dismay with studio for not introducing a concrete plan. It turned out that Blizzard was actually doing something and this is unlike any other regular eSports tournament.
This one here is a huge thing. The only catch that most critics find a bit unpleasant is the weekend matches. They believe that making the group stage competition a travelling circus is fun, but it only underscores the studio’s efforts to make it a global competition.
How to watch the League
Blizzard announced previously that they have partnered with live streaming service Twitch to bring the best of “Overwatch League.” They are the competition’s major provider of live stream contents, though the schedules will vary differently.
This weekend, for instance, is happening in China. Obviously, this does not favor the people on the Western side of the globe. But if they want, they can always watch the live competition. It already began on Saturday at around 11 PM PDT.
Fortunately, the studio will upload videos of the “Overwatch League” on their official channels in YouTube and Twitch. Blizzard will also keep everyone updated on the official site of the tournament.
