By Guilherme Name

After five years on the run, Activision Blizzard announced the end of the Overwatch League as we know it. The publisher wants to revamp the competitive scene of the game, although this decision was not a consensus among the teams.

Although Blizzard has not spoken publicly about the matter, – with the exception of some press releases to prominent vehicles – multiple teams have announced their departure, and league spokespeople mentioned a “transition to a new model.”

The possibility of a complete disband has been in the air the entire year, and the league itself has shown multiple worrying signs. In January, the teams hired the british sports law firm Sheridans to negotiate on their behalf, according to Jacob Wolf. In June, one of their teams – the Chengdu Hunters – ceased operations. And last month’s Grand Finals event ended with the casting crew united in a “goodbye” message. Ultimately, the teams were given the option to stay in the league or receive $6 million each in compensation – $120 million total.

It’s an impressive amount, but one that Blizzard was willing to pay. According to former Atlanta Reign coach Blake “Gator” Scott, the updated agreement was absurd, and he accused Blizzard of effectively forcing the teams out – even those who wanted to stay.

“Atlanta was more than happy to stay,” Scott said. “A lot of these teams are more than willing just to keep throwing money into the fire. They’re well aware it was just a waste of money. But they’re willing to just because they liked it.”

Despite Scott’s claims, only one organization has publicly indicated their willingness to remain in the league – the Houston Outlaws. That org has since rebranded to “Outlaws,” and shifted its strategy to focus on content creation for games unrelated to Overwatch, which has sparked outrage from their fans. 

In response to the bad reception, the Outlaws made a statement on the matter, mentioning that it was “not their decision” to end the league, and they needed changes in order not to “dissolve along with it.”

Prior to this month’s vote, the only team to ever leave the Overwatch League were the Chengdu Hunters, and their story is a good analogy to the overall situation in the league. 

The Hunters were integrated in the second season of Overwatch League alongside two other chinese teams, the Guangzhou Charge and the Hangzhou Spark. It marked a time in which the league was wildly expanding to new markets. After that season, Blizzard announced an ambitious plan of hosting live events throughout the world, including two for each team’s headquarters.

The COVID pandemic and the overall decay of the esports market have shattered those plans. Nevertheless, the teams continued competing online, and the Hunters acquired a huge fan base by playing heroes like Pharah and Wrecking Ball – in a time in which the meta was extremely stagnant. This stagnation was one of the reasons the league’s viewership plummeted, alongside its shift from Twitch to YouTube.

Last year, the situation got delicate for the Chinese teams, as Blizzard lost its publishing rights in China following a feud with NetEase. All those factors forced the Chengdu Hunters to cease operations in the middle of the season, with the announcement coming in June.

But other teams faced tough times these past five years, especially the ones owned by traditional sports investors. It was a particularity of the Overwatch League, to combine endemic organizations like Cloud9 and Optic Gaming, with the likes of Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots; and Stan Kroenke, owner of Arsenal FC and Denver Nuggets.

Kraft and Kroenke were the owners of the Boston Uprising and the Los Angeles Gladiators, respectively. While Kraft has since merged Uprising with another esports company, Oxygen Esportsm – in order to limit their risk, – the Kroenke family has laid off most of the staff working in the Gladiators and in their other team, The Guard. After the league’s closure, some expect them to shift away from esports for good.

Toronto Defiant, owned by OverActive Media, has also confirmed its exit from the Overwatch League. It was one of the most engaged franchises, and among the most lucrative as well. The Defiant was also a key player when it came to tournament organizing, most recently hosting the league’s Grand Finals in the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. OverActive media had plans to build an esports arena in Toronto, which would also attend the city’s demand for other events, but the project was paused after the vote.

But the company has expressed interest in participating in the next phase of Overwatch esports, whatever it looks like. Toronto Defiant has since laid off all its players, but kept their coach, Cas “Casores” van Andel, to help them navigate the new horizons.

It’s still unclear what’s next for competitive Overwatch. But according to the Jacob Wolfe Report, Blizzard is in advanced talks with the Saudi-owned tournament organizer ESL FACEIT Group. No announcement has been made yet, but it’s unlikely any other company will match the financial level of a state-backed company.

ESL was founded in 2000 and it’s currently the oldest still operational esports company. It has made its name as a premium tournament organizer in games like Counter Strike and Dota 2. But its acquisition – and consequently merger with FACEIT – by the Savvy Games Group, a fund controlled by the royal family of Saudi Arabia, has sparked anger among the community. Both the public and the organizations fear what this could mean for the LGBTQ+ community and for anyone the Saudi government considers an “enemy.”

This follows a dark trend in esports, in which Saudi Arabian funds have filled the space created by crypto companies like FTX, which fueled the market with money but went bankrupt after money mismanagement scandals.

Nevertheless, some people consider the death of the Overwatch League a good thing for the competitive scene of the game. The current Overwatch World Cup champion, Saudi Arabia, was the only country that managed to build a local scene independent from Blizzard – with the help of the aforementioned investment funds. This could be a reasonable explanation for their exceptional results this year. And players in forsaken regions like South America have long advocated for reforms in the competitive system. So even if Overwatch League is dead, Overwatch esports still has lots of potential going forward.