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Overwatch League viewership doubled under its tournament format
The league saw its highest average viewership since the second week of the season.
Overwatch League tries to boost interest with May Madness tournament
Teams will battle in two regional tournaments for prize money and bonus wins towards their season records.
The entire Overwatch League regular season will be online-only
The Overwatch League has canceled all of its live events for the remainder of the 2020 regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Matches will take place in an entirely online format until August at the very least.
YouTube will stream the CoD and Overwatch leagues in 2020
Activision Blizzard's next big esports bet, Call of Duty League, gets underway today. While the company worked with Twitch in the past on Overwatch League, that's not where you'll be able to watch its latest foray into top-level competitive gaming. YouTube will be Activision Blizzard's exclusive worldwide streaming partner (except for China) for both leagues this year, along with Hearthstone events and other esports endeavors.
Overwatch League's latest big change is great for viewers
Picture this: FIFA decides to bring in a rule that changes how every team, from World Cup squads to US Youth Soccer National League orgs, plays. They're forced to field two strikers, four midfielders and four defenders at all times, even though many top teams prefer to have more midfielders supporting one main attacker.
Blizzard reveals Overwatch League details for 2020
Overwatch League fans who might have been hoping for a traditional home and away format similar to other sports, in which teams play half their games at their own venues, might be left disappointed at least for the 2020 season. Blizzard has revealed the league format for next year, in which regular-season matches will take place in teams' home bases.
'Overwatch' healer Baptiste debuts on March 19th
Baptiste, the Haitian combat medic who grew up an orphan, will make his Overwatch debut next week. The game announced on Twitter that Baptiste would be coming out on March 19th. Last month, we learned some details about Baptiste in a revealing trailer and letter, and he's been playable on the game's public test server ever since.
Overwatch League lets fans choose how to watch the action for $15
The second season of Blizzard's Overwatch League (OWL) kicks off in a couple of weeks, and this time around, fans have far more flexibility in how they can watch matches on Twitch. Following the success of a tool that let viewers check out the Overwatch World Cup finals from any angle, you'll be able to view OWL matches from more perspectives than in the past.
Overwatch League will air on live TV in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
The new season of Overwatch League (OWL) will be broadcast live on pay TV channel ESports1 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland starting February 14th. The newly-announced deal between Blizzard and German broadcaster Sport1 -- which recently launched ESports1 as a dedicated eSports channel -- spans two years and also hands it the rights to the Overwatch World Cup and digital card game Hearthstone.
Blizzard announces player discipline tracker for Overwatch League
The upcoming 2019 season of the Overwatch League will include a new wrinkle designed to help keep track of penalties handed down to players for bad behavior. Blizzard announced the launch of a discipline tracker that will list all infractions committed by Overwatch League gamers and any punishment enacted against them. Seven players have already been penalized according to the tracker, even though league play isn't scheduled to start until February 14th, 2019.
Overwatch League events expand beyond LA in 2019
To date, Overwatch League matches have taken place in Blizzard's own venue in Los Angeles. It's a special experience, but likely off-limits if you live on the other side of the continent or another country. For the 2019 season, though, you might not have to travel quite so far... or travel at all. Blizzard has announced that the new season will include home games in the form of Homestand Weekend series. Atlanta Reign, Dallas Fuel and LA Valiant fans can watch their teams play as part of a series of matches in two-day events.
Overwatch League lands major merchandise deal with Fanatics
Blizzard's Overwatch League is teaming up with Fanatics for a multi-year merchandise deal that should pull eSports apparel a little closer to the mainstream. It marks the first eSports partnership for Fanatics, which handles merch and e-commerce stores for major leagues such as the NBA and NFL.
Blizzard tweaks its Overwatch Contenders feeder league
Blizzard has officially announced the modifications it's making to Overwatch Contenders 2019 following the leak of some of the most divisive changes. The biggest alteration will see the size of the various Contenders divisions scaled down from twelve teams to eight in most regions -- though the structure of the China division has yet to be confirmed.
Blizzard bans third-party 'Overwatch' stats apps
Blizzard has declared that players are not allowed to use certain third-party Overwatch stat-tracking apps. The company said running software such as Visor and Pursuit while playing the game violates the End User License Agreement, and those who continue to use those tools could face permanent bans.
Overwatch League adds teams from Toronto, Vancouver and Paris
Activision Blizzard has rounded out the Overwatch League ranks for the second season of Overwatch's top-level professional competition. The company confirmed that eight more teams will compete, including new additions Toronto and Vancouver (the first Canadian teams in the league), along with Paris, which is the second European squad after the 2018 champions London Spitfire. Teams from Washington, DC, and Chinese cities Chengdu and Hangzhou are also part of the 2019 lineup. They join the previously announced Atlanta and Guangzhou teams as the number of rosters rises to 20 this time around.
An Overwatch League preview show is coming to Twitter
Overwatch League and Twitter just struck a deal that will bring the league's competition to the social platform, starting with the upcoming All-Star Weekend. Twitter will host near real-time highlight clips from next season's matches -- including regular season matches, playoffs and finals -- as well as clips from this weekend's All-Star matchups. Additionally, beginning with the 2019 season, Twitter will stream a live a weekly preview show called Watchpoint.
Overwatch League will air on ABC, ESPN and Disney networks
Overwatch League playoffs kick off tonight and so does a partnership between Blizzard Entertainment and Disney that will bring the league's competitions to the Disney, ESPN and ABC family of networks. The companies agreed to a multi-year deal that will allow Overwatch League matches to be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, Disney XD, ABC and streaming services. The deal includes this season's playoffs and finals as well as all of next season.
Overwatch League finals set for Brooklyn's Barclays Center
The Overwatch League is in the final stage of its first season and playoffs are right around the corner. Like the regular season games, the playoffs will take place at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, but the Grand Finals, the league just announced, will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Playoffs will include the top team from both divisions as well as the next four teams in the standings and they'll battle it out between July 11th and 21st. The final two teams will then head to the Grand Finals to compete on July 27th and 28th.
Overwatch League star fired amid sexual misconduct allegations
Overwatch League (OWL) is fairly new on the eSports scene; we're watching it evolve before our eyes. The last few months have shown us that acting badly in real life has gotten a handful of players punished, like Dallas Fuel player Felix "xQc" Lengyel first being suspended — then released — from the team for his awful behavior. Now, the Boston Uprising has terminated Jonathan "DreamKazper" Sanchez's contract over allegations of sexual misconduct with a young fan over Twitter.
What we're watching: 'The Magicians'
This month, contributing editor David Lumb explains the highs and lows of Syfy's book adaptation The Magicians, while senior news editor Richard Lawler digs into what he likes about professional Overwatch competition.
