The eSports is facing a problem, and Overwatch 2 seems to be the first victim. Blizzard pays teams when they withdraw – effectively killing the league.
– Blizzard makes too little money from the Overwatch League to be profitable.
– The Overwatch League pays team owners 6 million dollars if they want to withdraw.
– Blizzard has laid off 50 employees from the eSports sector.
– The future of the Overwatch League is uncertain, even though Blizzard insists that there will still be Overwatch esports.
That Blizzard’s originally ambitious goals for Overwatch and Overwatch 2 have not been realized is evident not only from the fragmentation of the long-awaited PvE mode but also from the Overwatch League. It was supposed to bring a truly major eSports event that captivates numerous viewers and generates a steady stream of revenue for Blizzard.
However, this dream seems to have burst. The Overwatch League is facing major changes – and anything other than “the end” seems hardly conceivable.
At least the story fans got a bit of Overwatch 2 content:
What happened? The quarterly report from Blizzard revealed what a financial burden the Overwatch League actually is for Blizzard. Each year, the league costs a lot of money, while it accounts for only about 1% of revenues – far too little to be profitable.
This announcement was accompanied by two drastic steps.
On the one hand, Blizzard laid off 50 employees from its own eSports segment. As an anonymous former employee reported, these layoffs came almost out of nowhere, and no one affected was offered the opportunity to apply for or switch to another position in the team (via The Verge).
This employee also believes that Blizzard will virtually no longer be able to manage esports with the reduction of the team. He describes it as a “skeleton team” that might still be able to handle the current season and then cease operations.
On the other hand, Blizzard is allowing the owners of various teams to vote on new contracts and rules at the end of the season. If the team owners do not choose the new rules, they can also accept a cash payout of 6,000,000 US dollars to completely withdraw from the league. For this purpose, Blizzard has already set aside 114,000,000 US dollars.
What will happen to the Overwatch League? That is uncertain and will likely only become clear towards the end of the season, when it becomes apparent how the team owners decide. However, it is also clear that Blizzard has already commented on the matter.
Sean Miller from Blizzard said:
I want to make it clear in one thing that Overwatch remains committed to a competitive ecosystem, both in 2024 and beyond. And we are working towards reviving the global scene and prioritizing players and fans.
What led to this decision? Blizzard originally wanted to make a big deal out of the Overwatch League. But the league never really took off, and current viewer numbers for Overwatch 2 also paint a rather bleak picture. Interest in the game has rapidly declined on Twitch; even the launch of Overwatch 2 and numerous Twitch promotions have only led to a brief increase in viewership.
This is not only due to the fact that esports are currently in poor shape, but also to Overwatch 2 specifically. The controversial switch from 6 to 5 players per team has already caused discussions in the league a while ago.
That Overwatch 2 was released in a difficult state and then also simply cut the long-awaited “hero mode”, i.e., the cohesive PvE campaign with talent trees, may have been another nail in the coffin of interest in the game.
So quite a bit is changing at Blizzard and Overwatch 2 specifically. What this means for the professionals who currently have to worry about their future remains uncertain for now.
