Author Archives: @Loadscr33n

What is the Overwatch League? A beginners guide.

It can be a bit overwhelming to get into any new sport, let alone one of the biggest eSport league in the world. In an attempt to get you up to speed, I will be presenting a five part series to introduce everyone to the Overwatch League, the four different game modes, the basics of Overwatch’s heroes, some common terminology, and a look at the Boston Uprising’s roster. In this article, I’ll be looking at an introduction to the Overwatch league.

History

Overwatch is a team based, first person, hero based shooter released by Blizzard in 2016. Blizzard announced the Overwatch League at their annual Blizzcon convention later that year. Overwatch League follows the format of other US sports leagues. City based teams face off over the course of a regular season. Additionally, a seeded playoff and a championship match follows the season.

For us Boston fans, we can be proud to know that the Kraft family was one of the first in the door. Jonathan Kraft and LA Rams owner Stan Kroenke were first to pony up the reported $20 million franchise fee to join the league. With two well known sports team owners on board, the league gained credibility and snowballed to getting to the initial season’s 12 teams.

League reach

What makes the Overwatch League unique is the teams are from all over the world. In the first season, the league featured teams from the US, China, England, and South Korea. Additionally, season two added teams from Canada, France, and another from China. Future seasons will likely see other internationally based teams (reportedly Australia and other European countries).

The 20 teams of the 2019 Overwatch League season

Matches for the first season were all played in LA at the former site of The Tonight Show. Blizzard Arena featured all regular season and playoff matches until the championship. The Barclays Center, home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, played host to the championship final. As a result, a sold out crowd saw the London Spitfire take home the inaugural Overwatch League title, and $1 million prize. In addition, season two will also follow this format. Three separate weekends testing matches in other teams’ home markets are schedule for this year. Season three plans to play home games in each teams’ city.

Structure

One unique feature of the standard regular season schedule is the introduction of stages. Seasons have four 5-week stages, culminating in a short playoff to crown a stage champion and a share of the $125,000 prize. A meta change will occur between stages by Blizzard patching the game.

Player contracts are different in the Overwatch League. For example, players have a minimum of a $50,000/year contract. Teams also must provide health insurance, living/training facilities in-season, and at least 50% of any in-season earned winnings. Players are also subject to a code of conduct. Typical pro athlete issues such as interactions with fans and media, drug testing, and cheating can happen. However, Overwatch has a unique and common infraction called player boosting. This is when players sell their services to the Overwatch community. Players log onto accounts and level them up to top tier contention for a fee.

Overwatch League has all the accoutrements that other major sports have. For example, Twitch is the official streaming platform of Overwatch League, and select matches are being broadcast by Disney XD, ABC, and ESPN. Major sponsors of the league include Toyota, Spotify, T-Mobile, and Intel. Fans can purchase player jerseys, team apparel, and in-game character skins to reflect their favorite team.

Future outlook

2019’s season will see several changes to the league. For instance, eight expansion teams have been added to the league. Regular season matches dropped from 40 to 28. Lastly, there will be three separate away series played outside of Blizzard Arena. Games are played Thursday through Sunday with a better daily schedule for non-American fans. Overwatch League has plenty momentum after its first season. As a result, it’s poised to continue to grow into the premiere eSports league in the world.

For all the latest on the Overwatch League and Boston Uprising, please follow me on Twitter #BostonUp

No biggie but I’m kind of best friends with Gamsu

Overwatch League just flipped the spectating experience on its head

Different Views

To start, how about giving us spectators the same tools as the broadcasters? Now you have the ability to watch the action from any player’s view. Want to actually see what our support players do? You can now. Kellex and AimGod appreciate your patronage. Only want to watch DPS players? Done (the Uprising still don’t know who that will be, but that’s another story). Now you can follow your favorite players, roles, or heroes at the click of a mouse. On demand.

Best of all, you can now pull up the top down map that you see intermittently throughout the broadcast. I’m convinced the top down view may be the easiest way to watch the game. What better way is there to understand each team’s positioning? For new and casual fans, the top down view may be the best way to understand what is happening.

Additionally, you can mix in the traditional broadcast that the league broadcasts. With the functionality to combine any three of these views onto your screen, you can imagine just how malleable the system is. Personally, I don’t see how you can watch an Uprising match without having the overhead view in the corner, Gamsu in the other, and the broadcast front and center.

Extras

As if the ability to customize your viewing experience isn’t enough, the Overwatch League and Twitch throw in more. Two free Overwatch in-game skins (a $10 value alone). No ads. Exclusive post-match player interviews. Special Twitch badges and emotes (I’m too old to understand what these are, but shout out to the younger readers out there). A one-time 20% coupon to the Overwatch League Store.

Just to compare, let’s look at what similar packages in other leagues look like. Take a look:

NFL Red Zone – $9 – $13/month
NFL Sunday ticket – $290/season
NHL Center Ice – $130 – $160/season
NBA League Pass – $250/season
MLB TV – $112/season

When you look at what other leagues are charging, you can see just how great a deal this is. To any serious Overwatch League fan, the $14.99 price tag is a no brainer. For those trying to get into Overwatch, the price tag is more than reasonable to get a customized view of the action.

For all the latest on the Overwatch League and Boston Uprising, please follow me on Twitter #BostonUp

Why I Love the Overwatch League and You Should Too

Competition

Anytime you have millions of dollars involved you will get the highest level of competition. Whether it’s Nathans hot dog eating contest or the Olympics, the cream rises when everything is on the line. That’s what makes those and other often obscure sports so exciting – you are seeing people who have trained their whole lives share their talent with the world. Put teams of them together and competition with one another and nothing short of fireworks will happen.

Play the game

Most sports fans have some connection to the games they watch. Maybe you played t-ball, pop warner, or rec league ball when you were younger. Be honest though – when’s the last time you really played? While it may have been awhile since you wrapped your hands around a controller, no matter what shape you’re in you can fire up a game of Overwatch and get into the same playing field the players use.

Schedule

Look I’ll be real with you. What else are you watching in the dog days of summer? The season starts in mid February and goes till September. I love the Sox like everyone else, and the Fort is sneaky sneaky the funnest spot to catch a game in all of Boston sports, but why not change it up and catch an Uprising game? Also they only play one or two times a week between Thursday and Sunday.

Referees

The worst part of all sports are the blown calls and drawn out replays. From the vague definition of what is a catch in the NFL, to the invasion of instant replay into baseball, all sports are ruined by these bureaucratic impositions. In eSports there is NONE of this. Because it’s a game, there is no question of who healed who, how fast a payload moves, or the range of a D-Va bomb. The game takes care of it. This removes all excuse making when your team wins or loses, and keeps the action going without a whistle blow.

Meta change

Football has gotten softer in recent times, defensive shifts are the norm in baseball, hockey is run more by skill than size, and the three pointer is more important than ever. These are changes to the meta of the sport and happen over long periods of time. In eSports, these changes happen multiple times a season. The Overwatch developers update the game between each stage, which always changes the way the game is played. Shifts in the meta makes the league more about which team can be most flexible and consistent rather than dominant in one particular way.

Health

The narrative of head injuries, concussions, and CTE is so normalized in sports today as to nearly be cliche. Whether you think supporting the sports that lead to lifelong physical and mental trauma is problematic is between you and your god. Conversely, you can see explosions, death, gun violence, and dismemberment – and the players are fine! You are guilt free watching eSports.

These are just a few reasons I think eSports and the Overwatch League is worth a try. If you can get through the rules and the little idiosyncrasies, you’ll find an exciting sport just as engaging as all the other sports. So pick up a controller, pick your favorite hero, and I’ll see you out there by the payload.

Boston Sports Extra

By Boston Fans, For Boston Fans