At a fan art contest, nothing can go wrong, right? Overwatch shows that it can also cause an uproar.
Blizzard unites some of the most well-known and beloved franchises in the world, and numerous fan art has emerged over the years. Occasionally, there are small events where talented community members can submit their art.
That’s now also happened with the Overwatch League, which is slowly but surely preparing for Overwatch 2. But many community members warned: Anyone who participates as an artist will be coldly ripped off by Blizzard.
What was the problem? In an art contest from the Overwatch League, fans were encouraged to submit their fan art. The 5 best artworks would be rewarded with a prize of $500 and the respective motifs would even be featured on some products in the Overwatch League shop. For some, a great honor – for others, however, a nuisance.
The terms of the contest indicated that the Overwatch League could use all submitted artworks basically indefinitely for any purpose. Additionally, the 5 winners would not receive any share of the revenue from the products that feature their motifs.
This is how the community reacted: As expected, the reaction was quite angry and there were many complaints. The accusation was clear: Blizzard simply wanted to grab dozens of good fan arts that could then be used as promotional material at a very low cost of a total of $2,500, where only 5 winners would get paid.
This is how Blizzard changed it: Comparatively quickly – less than a day later – the Overwatch League responded to the criticism and adjusted the contest. It was stated on Twitter:
We want to thank the OWL community for expressing their concerns about the 5th fan art contest.
In response to these concerns, we will not use the submitted artworks for sale items and will work to better represent artists in the future.
The contest will continue with the five winning entries, each of whom will receive the cash prize, and we look forward to celebrating these artists alongside the community.
Accordingly, the submitted artworks will no longer be used for sale and the terms of participation have been adjusted.
In the end, it was relatively quickly resolved, and many thanked Blizzard for their swift concession. However, some are still left with a bitter aftertaste – and a lot of distrust.
