The Overwatch League is losing its face and voice before the start of the 2020 season. One of the main casters, Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles, is leaving the league – his partner might also leave. These are likely the aftermaths of the internal changes at Blizzard.
Who is leaving? Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles (33) has been a caster since the start of the Overwatch League. For many, he was “the face” of Overwatch.
MonteCristo has been a well-known figure in US eSports for many years. He made a name for himself with Warcraft 3 and later was active in LoL. His work as a caster, together with his partners, was considered top-notch in the Overwatch League.
Why is he leaving? It is related to the departure of Nate Nanzer, the head of the league. He switched to Epic Games in May 2019. Nanzer was apparently the central figure of the Overwatch League in the early years.
MonteCristo now says: Nate Nanzer’s departure from the OWL led to irreconcilable creative and philosophical differences between himself and the leadership of the Overwatch League.
Therefore, it is now better for everyone that he is leaving.
Hardly anyone wants to see content related to the Overwatch League
MonteCristo sees this critically: On his Twitter account, MonteCristo also stated that Overwatch and the Overwatch League are struggling with their additional content:
- The viewer numbers for Overwatch content have even gone down since the start of the Overwatch League.
- He himself would get more views if he reported on the Korean APEX tournament than on the Overwatch League.
- Content about the league would reach a maximum of 25,000 people, regardless of who makes it.
What is he doing now? MonteCristo has already secured his new engagement. He has founded the company “Theorycraft” with partners to provide eSports consulting.
He states that companies had previously hired “eSports producers” who had no idea about the audience or the medium.
Now the power would fall back to the “old kings of eSports” – veterans like him. The “people with money” would now hand him and his colleagues the “keys to the kingdom” for many projects.
Who else is leaving? After MonteCristo’s departure, his casting partner expressed himself: Erik “DoA” Lonnquist is also unsure whether he will continue in 2020.
He says his contract is ending. He has given everything in Overwatch since 2016 but now shares MonteCristo’s concerns about the Overwatch League. (via Dotesports)
DoA still believes in the concept and still loves Overwatch. So it is still uncertain whether he will return.
The freelance host, Chris Puckett, has announced his resignation from the Overwatch League.
What is going on? The idea of the Overwatch League was to link teams with cities. In 2016, the Overwatch League looked like the “next big thing”. Activision Blizzard praised the possibilities of the league.
However, there are now doubts whether Blizzard can really establish Overwatch as an eSports title alongside CS:GO, LoL, or Dota 2. With the departure of Nanzer, the rise of Epic Games and Fortnite and the restructuring within Blizzard, many things seem to have changed that looked different in 2016.
Activision Blizzard has been on a cost-cutting course in recent years. Allegedly, they are saving money in all areas that are not directly related to the development of new titles. This is likely also what is meant by the “creative differences” that MonteCristo refers to.
In addition to the casters, a team from the second line has also withdrawn from Overwatch:
The title image is from Robert Paul on behalf of Blizzard.
