Overwatch League

Overwatch

Typically, it takes some time for a robust competitive scene to develop around a game, but Blizzard kickstarted things with its incredibly popular hero shooter Overwatch. The game was released in 2016, and its immense popularity with millions led to Blizzard announcing the formation of the Overwatch League the following year. Teams started signing on as early as March 2017 with the first seven teams officially announced on July 2017. The Overwatch League kicked off in January 2018 with 12 teams, and it has since expanded.

Overwatch League History

No Esports league has ever received the buzz and mainstream attention that we saw with the Overwatch League. The league signed extremely lucrative sponsorship deals with different advertisers prior to its launch, and it had games broadcast on television through ABC and ESPN. That helped the Overwatch League reach untapped audiences, even if there was some pushback from traditional sports fans.

The Overwatch League was seen as the first truly international league in Esports history. The 12 founding teams came from three different continents, as Blizzard brought the traditional sports model over to Esports. Blizzard didn’t allow Esports organizations to use their own branding with franchise spots, instead mandating that teams have distinct names tied to major cities in order to help grow nascent fanbases.

For the inaugural 2018 season, the 12 teams were split into two divisions. The Atlantic Division had the New York Excelsior, Boston Uprising, London Spitfire, Philadelphia Fusion, Houston Outlaws, and Florida Mayhem. Meanwhile, the Pacific Division boasted the Los Angeles Valiant, Los Angeles Gladiators, Dallas Fuel, San Francisco Shock, Seoul Dynasty, and the Shanghai Dragons.

The Excelsior were the top team throughout the 2018 regular season. They finished the year with a 34-6 record, and they won both Stage 2 and Stage 3. New York didn’t drop a game in its two Stage 3 series, and that led to the Excelsior being a big favorite for the inaugural Overwatch League Playoffs.

However, the month off between the end of Stage 4 and the postseason had an adverse effect on the best teams. The two top seeds both failed to win a match in the playoffs, and the No. 5 London Spitfire played the No. 6 Philadelphia Fusion for the first-ever title. London ended up knocking off Philadelphia in the Overwatch League Grand Finals, claiming $1 million in the win.

Eight new teams were added prior to the start of the 2019 season. Blizzard put an emphasis on expanding its global footprint, and the league added three Chinese teams (Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, and Chengdu Hunters), two Canadian teams (Toronto Defiant and Vancouver Titans), another European team (Paris Eternal), and two more American teams (Atlanta Reign and Washington Justice).

That meant only 11 of the 20 Overwatch League teams were based in the United States in the second season. There were teams in six different countries, as Blizzard looked to set up for actual homestands starting with the 2020 season in order to bring a team’s players to the fans of each city.

The Shanghai Dragons went 0-40 in the inaugural season of the OWL, but they shook off that poor performance to win the Stage 3 Playoffs. The other two stage winners were the Vancouver Titans and San Francisco Shock, and they met in a stunning Grand Finals. Although the Titans were the No. 1 seed, the Shock swept them 4-0. San Francisco lost its opening series, but the team won five straight series 4-0 to run the gauntlet out of the Losers Bracket.

It was a rough 2020 for everyone, but the Overwatch League was impacted more than other Esports. The league planned on opening the season with a long homestand in China for their four Chinese teams. However, COVID nixed those plans, and the long-awaited homestands planned for this season were all called off. The league’s global footprint backfired too as it was more difficult to move tournaments online due to where each team was based.

San Francisco repeated as OWL champions, claiming $1.5 million for their performance in the playoffs. The Shock went to Seoul and knocked off the Dynasty 4-2 in the first Grand Finals held outside of Los Angeles in a stunted season.