It is quite evident that competitive gaming continues to garner worldwide attention. Games like "Defense of the Ancients 2" (popularly known as "DOTA 2"), "League of Legends" (lovingly called "LOL"), Ubisoft's "Rainbow Six: Siege," and just recently "Street Fighter V," have contributed to the recognition of eSports as the next profitable business platform. This has encouraged several developers to come up with titles that will attract more viewers and players. One of those interested parties, Blizzard Entertainment, has already prepared to dive into the lucrative business of competitive spectator gaming with its award-winning team-based shooter, "Overwatch."
The development team reportedly announced their intentions to join the eSport scene last year during their BlizzCon event.
The team formally revealed that the competition will be called "Overwatch League." The game studio also confirmed that they already selected the first seven teams and their respective owners. However, the official start date for the event has not yet been shared by the management team.
'Overwatch League' first seven
The official announcement regarding the "Overwatch League" first few franchises was made by Nate Nanzer. The aforementioned individual will fill the role of commissioner throughout the season. He noted that five of the confirmed teams are from the United States and included Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York, and Miami-Orlando. The remaining two teams come from Asia with one group from Shanghai, China and another from Seoul, South Korea.
It was also confirmed that there are still more teams to be revealed in the near future.
'Overwatch League' team franchise owners
A lot of gamers began to doubt that Blizzard's planned eSports platform was never going to come to fruition. Apparently, the lack of regular updates started to brew doubt among fans of the FPS game.
Therefore, the first official team announcement can effectively encourage gamers to look forward to its debut. Some of the notable names involved with the teams include some MLB pedigree like Jeff Wilpon, the current COO of the New York Mets, who will sponsor the New York City team. Meanwhile, NFL's New England Patriots' owner, Robert Kraft, is responsible for the Boston group of players.
Furthermore, the remaining "Overwatch League" teams are being managed by names that are recognized in eSports. The Los Angeles team is currently under Noah Whinston, Immortals' CEO, Misfits Gaming CEO and co-founder, Ben Spoont is taking care of the Miami-Orlando group, and the last team from the USA is the San Francisco lineup, headed by Andy Miller, chairman and founder of NRG ESports. Finally, the remaining two teams from Asia are from China and South Korea. The lineup from Seoul is under Kevin Chou of Kablam, while the Shanghai squad is supervised by Blizzard's Chinese partner NetEase.
Competition schedule and details
The "Overwatch League" management has revealed that the first season of the eSports tourney will take place in Los Angeles.
Afterward, the succeeding tournaments will move to different locations across the globe. It is expected to officially start later this year and will most likely achieve success through the support of its fans and viewers.
