In the last decade, Microsoft purchased the studios behind Minecraft, the Elder Scrolls, Quake, and now the entire portfolio of Activision Blizzard. With a record amount of $70B (yes, billions, not millions), Microsoft just made the biggest acquisition in the history of gaming. What can Microsoft do to save the Overwatch LeagueĪctivision Blizzard's acquisition by Microsoft is already making history. You can forget about Overwatch ever reaching the likes of Dreamhack or any similar event. Considering that the Overwatch League spans for 6 months, it highly discourages major esports events from holding an Overwatch competition. The organizations need to find a deal with Blizzard, which can prevent some sponsors from investing or forbid the diffusion of an event during the Overwatch League season or any other Blizzard branded event. So while this may work for your neighborhood competition, you can forget about major teams and players.Ĭompetitions like the NetEase Esports X Tournament work on custom licenses. The easiest one to get is the Community License, but it only applies for a single stand-alone event with less than $10,000 USD in prizes and appearance fees and less than $1,000 USD in sponsorships. The publisher requires tournament organizers to have a license to host any kind of competition. Blizzard has a tight grip on third-party tournaments. The Overwatch Contenders offer competitions for those aiming to reach the League, and the Open Division is a springboard for the Contenders.īut what happens if you win the lottery and would like to host your own major Overwatch tournament? One featuring the biggest teams and players? You can’t just put the money on the table and invite whoever you want. This is the only “S tier” competition in Overwatch. Around 20 teams from across the world battle during monthly tournaments that lead to Grand Finals at the end of the year. The Overwatch esports scene mainly revolves around a yearly competition, the Overwatch League.

And this is not because of the game itself, but rather because of the restrictions Blizzard put around Overwatch tournaments. Moreover, Overwatch brings rich lore for players to fall in love with its universe.īut if Overwatch is a commercial success, the game didn’t meet the same result on the esports scene. Even if one of your teammates dies, the game is not lost yet: 6 seconds later they will be back on the frontline. The game takes the classic FPS mechanics of giants like Counter-Strike and adds new roles for players who don’t have a good aim, allowing them to become tanks or supports. When it came out in 2016, Overwatch had everything to become successful. Was Blizzard preventing the Overwatch League from thriving?

Overwatch license code