Overwatch League Paris Eternal won’t be operating from the city of love, according to a person familiar with the team.
The Overwatch League was intended to operate as a global tournament with teams geolocated in specific cities. In 2020, it seems like the geolocation is more of a suggestion than a mandatory requirement. Paris Eternal will not be operating from Europe, but instead is setting up camp in New Jersey. A source confirmed that the team didn’t intend to establish a gaming house of any sort in Paris.
According to the source, the reason behind this is that the team cannot get good practice in from Paris due to high ping. Establishing itself in the United States will allow Paris Eternal to regularly scrimmage the other pro teams based in North America. The decision makes sense considering that Paris Eternal is playing its first game of the season on February 8 in New York. Paris Eternal is still responsible for its homestand scheduled on April 11.
London Spitfire, the other European team in the league, is yet to announce its location plans.
The Overwatch League is an ambitious project that promised to be global sensation and bring esports to many cities around the world. Fans and players alike were interested in the promise of this new city-based league structurewith new destinations every week. In reality, the Overwatch League has become a logistical nightmare.
It starts with the proposed travelling. The teams will be in constant motion, jumping from one time zone to the next. In the worst cases, the teams will travel to entirely different continents for periods of time. The process will be time consuming and may prove prohibitively expensive for some organizations. Some teams and the players are dreading the start of the season because it’s increasingly looking to be an exhausting process.
Another major challenge has appeared in the coronavirus epidemic that is affecting China right now. Because of the situation, China has canceled all sports events, including the esports events like the LPL and the Overwatch League homestands.
Shanghai Dragons and Guangzhou Charge shared that their players and staff will be relocating to Korea, effective immediately. Chengdu Hunters has decided to stay in China and extend the players’ vacations. Once they arrive to the facility, the team will proceed to evaluate every staff member and player to guarantee that no one is infected with the virus. Hangzhou Spark has yet to release a statement regarding the future of the team.
The Overwatch League Season 3 starts on February 8.
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