Strange things are happening at Blizzard again. The esports scene in Overwatch has had a team of casters commentating on the games for years. But caster VikkiKitty, who has been working for Blizzard since 2017, says now: She has been ignored for the 2022 season for half a year and simply does not know how things will continue. She is not an isolated case.
This is the situation:
- The “Overwatch League” was planned by Blizzard as a huge esports company . After the great success of Overwatch in 2016, the league was supposed to establish itself as a major professional esports title in 2017. After all, Blizzard has already launched huge esports titles with Starcraft and Warcraft.
- The league started in 2017 with a lot of enthusiasm. Slots in the league were sold to esports organizations for many millions of US dollars in a “franchise model”. The plan was to promote Overwatch following the model of major US leagues in basketball or football: Professional players were given fixed contracts, they wanted to play in arenas on-site, and hired casters who commented on these matches.
- But for some years now, it seems that Overwatch is losing steam: first came Fortnite, then Valorant as strong competition. In addition, Overwatch has hardly been developed since Overwatch 2 has been in planning – Corona made “on-site esports” problematic anyway, the league lost viewers when it switched from Twitch to YouTube, and then there is also the acquisition by Microsoft upcoming.
Veteran caster ignored by Blizzard for 6 months
This is what a caster says now: Esports commentator VikkiKitty says she has not received an offer for the Overwatch League 2022.
Worse still: She has also received no information about what will happen next. Since the end of the last season (September 2021), there has been a “lack of communication”, so no one is talking to her anymore, which frustrates her the most about her situation.
In the comments, fans express their shock at the situation. After all, VikkiKitty is the only woman in the caster scene. Blizzard does not present a good image in light of the sexism scandal when they show her the cold shoulder.
The caster has been working for the league since 2017.
Is this an isolated case? No, many other casters who have been working for the league for a long time say they have received no information about what will happen with the Overwatch League in 2022. People who have been following Overwatch as an esports since 2015 are currently left in the dark.
No one really knows how things will continue.
Blizzard implemented cost-cutting measures for the Overwatch League in 2020
Was there a similar case before? Yes, before the 2020 season, the “star casters” of the league complained that they had been made bad offers . Apparently, the league was implementing cost-cutting measures at that time. Some of the most prominent casters then separated from the league and publicly criticized Blizzard.
At that time, Blizzard was also shrinking its Overwatch League team.
What’s behind this: There could be several reasons for the problems with the casters:
- On the one hand, it could be related to the sale of Blizzard, that things have been set in motion, production companies are changing and the plan for the new league is not yet mature.
- Perhaps they are continuing to implement cost-cutting measures and are saving with the casters, wanting to approach matches differently. Activision Blizzard has already reduced a lot of staff in everything that does not directly relate to the development of new games
- Overwatch is generally in poor condition, especially since Overwatch 2 is in the making
Humanly, it is difficult to let people who have been working with Blizzard for so long remain in the dark. The situation seems to be escalating at the moment.
Many livelihoods and a lot of money hang on the Overwatch League
Why is this so difficult? The situation is so delicate because the Overwatch League has demanded a huge investment from the teams participating. However, the league has apparently been struggling for several years and is not performing as well as Blizzard originally envisioned in 2017.
Because such high investments are at stake and so many livelihoods are linked to it, it is a sensitive topic for Blizzard.
When they suddenly discontinued esports for “Heroes of the Storm” a few years ago, many who had centered their lives around the game were appalled:
HotS professionals feel betrayed by Blizzard and fear for their existence
