Content creator Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles had some harsh words for Overwatch League commissioner Pete Vlastelica after he stepped down from his role earlier this week.Â
Vlastelica will leave his role in Activision Blizzard Esports after the Overwatch League Grand Finals. According to a company spokesperson, Vlastelica is leaving his OWL commissioner role to “focus on new entrepreneurial ventures on behalf of Activision Blizzard.”Â
Vlastelica took the role when former commissioner Nate Nanzer announced he was moving to Epic Games in May of last year. While the spokesperson called him “instrumental in building the company’s esports business and driving the industry forward,” the esports community seems unanimous in its disagreement with the statement.Â
One vocal and prominent community member to speak up was MonteCristo, a former OWL analyst. He called Vlastelica a “clown” on Twitter, describing him as an “apathetic outsider.”Â
Esports has a long way to go in order to fix some of the issues created by hiring apathetic outsiders, but it’s like I say:
You have to unload the car one clown at a time.
— MonteCristo (@MonteCristo) October 1, 2020
Overwatch fans agreed with MonteCristo. Many felt that the Overwatch League dropped in quality after Nanzer left. Even though not everyone appreciated MonteCristo’s attitude towards the league after his departure, it was tough for fans to deny the struggles of the 2020 OWL season.Â
MonteCristo left the OWL in 2019 due to “irreconcilable creative and philosophical differences” with leadership after Nanzer stepped down. Since then, he’s been very loud about his criticism of the Overwatch League, even mocking the league’s viewership during the 2020 season.Â
It’s been a tough year for the OWL. It was supposed to be a city-based league with global tournaments hosted by all of the participating teams. But this effort was delayed. The competition eventually came back as a remote competition and broadcast.
Because of the big format changes and the move to YouTube, there were fewer views than expected this season. The league saw its best viewership last month during the second week of playoffs with 375,000 global views. Vlastelica said he was “incredibly proud” of how the team pushed forward despite the challenges.Â
“We managed to put together a season that I think really worked,” Vlastelica stated.Â
Despite a frustrating start to the season and an entirely new format, Overwatch League fans have still enjoyed following some exciting storylines. A lot of people have been impressed by the Shanghai Dragons and entertained with the ever-changing meta and hero compositions.Â
The Overwatch League Grand Finals will take place October 8 through 10 in South Korea.
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