Blizzard made a big blunder in an Overwatch tournament. The players then went on strike – and were threatened with disqualification.
The story surrounding Overwatch eSports can generally be described as quite challenging. In addition to numerous planning errors, there was now a significant blunder during the Overwatch Contenders EU.
In the “Overwatch Contenders EU” tournament, there was a match between Team 01 Esports and Munich Esports. After Munich Esports took a clear lead of 3:0, the fourth round began. 01 Esports managed to catch up slightly, winning the 4th and 5th matches, bringing the score to 3:2. Match 6 was just underway when Blizzard made a mistake.
Blizzard changes rules mid-game: What surprised all players and fans happened. With a final score of 3:2, the match was called off, and Munich eSports was declared the winner – even though the 6th round had just started. Much to the surprise of the players, as up to that point everyone assumed it was a “Best of 7” (FT4), meaning one side needed to achieve at least 4 wins.
While the tournament rules stated that the matches would be “Best of 5” (FT 3), the admins had previously informed the players that they had switched to a “Best of 7”.
The players had specifically requested clarification beforehand and can even prove with screenshots that they were informed by official sources that it was now a “Best of 7”.
Players strike, are threatened: It’s not surprising that many players considered this quite poor for a fair tournament. The result was that other teams showed solidarity and boycotted their own matches. Team Ex Oblivione, who had to face 01 Esports as losers, agreed with their opponents not to hold the match at all. They showed up for the games, but after just a few seconds during the ongoing match, it became clear they were just goofing around – both teams made no effort whatsoever.
The organizers then tried to salvage the situation and especially the broadcast, and explained to the teams in chat:
If both teams decide not to play, then we have to disqualify both teams.
Can we now confirm that both teams are ready to start and will play to the best of their ability to work towards the outcome of the game?
The players simply stated: “We refuse to play if you do not fix the competitive integrity.”
This had also been made clear in a statement on Twitter. They saw the integrity of the entire event endangered when communication with such false information was occurring.
Blizzard backtracks, tries to salvage it: After the outcry became too loud, there was also a statement from Blizzard, in which they tried to salvage the situation:
After reviewing the circumstances, we are convinced of being consistent in communication with the teams by stating that it would be a FT4 series [“Best of 7”] and that this is the fairest way.
The result now is that neither team will be disqualified and 01 Esports will face Munich Esports again to conduct the 6th round and possibly a 7th round.
Blizzard has made several mistakes: Recently, they presented a tournament setup that reminded many of LAN parties from 2008.
