The future of the Overwatch League is looking a bit less certain this week. With the Activision Blizzard buyout seemingly going ahead, and the OWL Grand Finals coming up, things looked a bit brighter than a few months ago. However, a recent offer from Blizzard to the franchise holders of the team have thrown that into doubt. OWL Franchises have been offered $6 million to leave the League.
In a quarterly earnings report, Activision Blizzard has provided updates on the cost and profits of tis various esports. With Hearthstone esports basically shut down, Blizzard’s main event right now is definitely the Overwatch League. Declining viewing figures have been going on for a while now though and franchise holders of the League have increasingly been public problems facing them given the hefty fees to operate a team. The OWL is looking to solve that problem with OWL franchises offered $6 million to leave the League entirely.
© Overwatch League
OWL Franchises Offered Millions to Leave the League
One team has already stepped out of the League this season. It has been forced to use Contenders teams in one half of the competition. While a fun way to open things up, this cast a lot of doubts on the future of their franchise system. This required team owners to buy a slot in the league for large fees. That’s instead of earn a spot like contenders teams could. This new amended format this year felt like a weird halfway stop between a modern system and Overwatch’s more controversial franchise system. It looks like Blizzard is looking to change the format entirely though. Or just give up on competitive Overwatch as a whole.
Blizzard will be enforcing a new operating agreement. This would enforce changes to the agreement, something which has even led to them seeking collective legal representation against Blizzard in the past. The teams will vote on an upcoming operating agreement. If they don’t vote to continue, a termination fee will be paid to each of them. OWL Franchises have been offered $6 million each in the termination fee.
Other sources have indicated another 50 people have been laid off in Activision Blizzard esports this week just ahead of this news. This all makes the changes a bit clearer, but the future of competitive Overwatch is very much in doubt.
Future of the Overwatch League
The commissioner of the Overwatch League has said the company is still committed to continuing the League. Given the numerous problems facing it though, that termination fee might look tempting to franchisees.
With the OWL franchises offered $6 million to leave competitive Overwatch, we could be looking at a complete restart. This might be the time for the Overwatch League to switch to a more open democratic format for esports. It’s a system for competitive gaming that works well for free-to-play games like Fortnite and Apex Legends. With increasing layoffs in Blizzard esports and dwindling viewer numbers though, we might be looking at the end of Overwatch esports.
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