Financial experts downgrade Activision Blizzard. The reason for this is the Overwatch League, which one does not fully believe in.
With the Overwatch League, Blizzard is trying to create its own environment for eSports. There are strict guidelines and requirements: For example, teams must pay their players a specified salary. But is Blizzard really capable of creating a solid eSports environment out of thin air?
“No” say the analysts from Cowen, a group of financial experts active in the stock market.
Since 2008, Activision Blizzard has been rated “outperform” by Cowen – it was part of the elite in the industry for 9 years. During this time, the value of Activision Blizzard’s shares has risen dramatically, by a whopping 600%.
Now, Activision Blizzard has been downgraded by Cowen to “market perform”. The reason for this is the Overwatch League, which they do not want to believe in.
Overwatch League will be a painful “learning experience”
According to Cowen, Blizzard is a pioneer here, and it is “the first time that a publisher wants to start a major eSports league from scratch.” Therefore, they expect that the Overwatch League will not be a big success in its first run, but rather a “learning experience”. Thus, it is assumed that the results will fall significantly short of investors’ expectations.
However, it is common for such a structure in eSports to form over the course of years and not spontaneously. So it could be that the Overwatch League will become a success in the long term.
Do you think the Overwatch League will be a success? Are you interested in eSports in and around Overwatch? Or do you think it’s all clear and destined to fail anyway?
