Overwatch
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These are the 10 best legendary skins in Overwatch
Olivia Richman
There’s nothing that keeps people playing Overwatch despite the cries of “it’s a dead game” quite like loot boxes. But most people only open loot boxes for one thing: The legendary skins. Of course, some skins are only available for a limited time or during certain events each year. That only makes them all the more exciting when players find them. So here is our list of the top 10 …
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xQc apologizes to fans after Twitch upholds ban for nudity
Olivia Richman
Twitch partner Felix “xQc” Lengye is known for being a troll. In fact, he was removed from the Overwatch League for repetitive toxic behavior. But after being banned from Twitch, xQc decided to take a moment to be genuine with his fans. xQc received a three-day ban for anime nudity after he purposely uncensored an image of a cartoon woman wearing no bra. While some in the streaming community felt …
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New OWL jerseys prices draw anger from Overwatch fans
gabhernandez
The Overwatch League shop dropped some new team jerseys recently, and fans are furious about the listed prices. The price point for a jersey without a player name is $90 USD and has caused some gripes for fans because of the consistent increase in price over the last three seasons. The quality of the jerseys last year made by Fanatics was a disaster, which didn’t instill a lot of hope …
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xQc banned from Twitch, this time for sexually suggestive content
Olivia Richman
Controversial Twitch streamer Félix “xQc” Lengyel has been banned from the streaming platform. Content creator and marketer Zach Bussey, who has a show on Twitch, revealed the reason on his own Twitter. He alleges xQc has been banned for anime nudity. According to Bussey, this usually amounts to a three-day ban from Twitch, but can be reduced to 24 hours if xQc is lucky. People who were watching xQc’s live stream …
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Joe Marsh sheds new light on Fusion Arena status in Philadelphia
gabhernandez
Fans in Philadelphia have been wondering about the status of the city’s proposed esports arena, which is set to be constructed by January 2021, less than a year away. The Fusion Arena is planned to open in 2021 ahead of the fourth Overwatch League season. It is being built next to the Xfinity Live! location in Philadelphia, but fans are curious as to why there hasn’t been any sign of …
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Who owns every team in the Overwatch League?
Steven Rondina
Activision Blizzard went in a unique direction when it came to Overwatch League teams. Esports organizations field teams with identical branding in games such as League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. This will see organizations like Natus Vincere, Cloud9, and Team Liquid field teams in multiple games with the same logos and jerseys. Once the publisher took over the Overwatch pro scene, it opted to …
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OWL cancels Seoul Dynasty homestand over coronavirus concerns
gabhernandez
The Overwatch League has announced that it has cancelled the upcoming homestand in Seoul, South Korea. This follows OWL calling off homestand events that were set to take place in China. Both of these cases stem from concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. The decision comes after South Korea raised the threat level earlier today, which empowers the country’s government to lock down cities. The number of recorded cases is currently …
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New Mardi Gras Overwatch event possibly leaked on Twitch
Olivia Richman
It looks like Overwatch might be getting a new seasonal event. A Twitter user using the handle La Nimi recently claimed that their friend had received two Mardi Gras Ashe bundles through Twitch. One was from watching Overwatch for four hours, the other for watching six hours. After receiving the bundles, La Nimi took to Twitter to ask if anyone else had received a Mardi Gras-themed bundle. She then shared …
Boston Uprising win longest series in OWL history over Houston Outlaws
Olivia Richman
News
The Houston Outlaws and Boston Uprising have broken the Overwatch League record for most maps played. The two teams fought back and forth over seven maps, with the Boston Uprising ultimately taking the 3-2 victory. According to the Overwatch League’s rules for the 2020 season, teams must play until one wins three maps. But the Houston Outlaws had forced the two-draw maximum. The first map was Ilios, a control map …
Philadelphia Fusion stay perfect in OWL 2020 season by beating NYXL
gabhernandez
News
The Battle of the Broads has made its way into esports with the Philadelphia Fusion and New York Excelsior facing off in week 3 of the Overwatch League’s 2020 season. Though the series wasn’t easy, Philadelphia stayed perfect by taking a 3-1 win over New York. The rivals battled it out, but NYXL were put on their back foot early as the Fusion exploded out of the gate to take …
As OWL cancels China games, Fusion sweep Philadelphia homestand
gabhernandez
News
The Philadelphia Fusion hosted week two of the Overwatch League’s matches amid cancelled match dates in China due to the recent coronavirus outbreak. Local fans were eager to see what their team had in store for them for live experiences, meet and greets, and of course, the matches themselves. The matches were hosted at the Metropolitan Philadelphia, just outside of the heart of the city. The old building was renovated …
Jeff Kaplan responds to copyright strike on OWL content creator
Olivia Richman
News
The Overwatch community has always loved developer Jeff Kaplan. Now, Papa Jeff’s response to a content creator’s frustration with a copyright strike from Blizzard has fans even more appreciative of what he does for the game’s community. Popular Overwatch League content creator Itsjeyang had one of his most recent highlight videos taken down by YouTube, OWL’s new streaming partner. On Reddit, the Overwatch community shared a screenshot of the strike on …
Report: Activision Blizzard partnered with YouTube for $160 million
Olivia Richman
News
People close to the situation have reported that YouTube’s media-rights deal with Activision Blizzard is valued at about $160 million. This three-year deal, a partnership between YouTube owner Google and Overwatch’s developers and publishers at Activision Blizzard, was announced last month before the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League began. The deal involves Overwatch, Call of Duty, and Hearthstone having all of their tournaments live streamed exclusively on YouTube …
xQc reclaims title as top ranked Winston player on NA servers
Olivia Richman
News
Overwatch streamer Félix “xQc” Lengyel reclaimed his spot as the number one Winston in North America. “TOOK ME A COUPLE GAMES TO GET THE RUST OFF AND GOT RANK 36 NA, HIGHEST PLAYER WITH WINSTON AS MOST PLAYED ON THE WHOLE SERVER. PICK UP THE THE FUCKING PACE NORTH AMERICA IS NO ONE EVEN TRYING ANYMORE?” xQc declared on Twitter. He added a photo for proof that he is, indeed, the …
Overwatch update nerfs 3 heroes, makes console-exclusive changes
Olivia Richman
News
Overwatch’s most recent patch hit live servers today, bringing some small changes to four heroes. Last week, Blizzard released the changes on PTR and it seems they have carried over to live servers with barely any changes. Here’s all the February 12 updates for PC. The former GOATS meta staple had her Repair Pack ability changed once again. This time, the armor over-heal was reduced from 75 to 50 armor. …
The top heroes of OWL’s opening weekend weren’t who you were expecting
Olivia Richman
News
The opening weekend of Overwatch League Season 3 gave fans an early taste of the game’s new meta. According to Overwatch’s Stats Lab, Lucio, Reinhardt, and Mei were the three most-played heroes of the week by far. Lucio was picked 91.9% of the time, followed by Reinhardt at 88.7%. Probably the most surprising is Mei at third with 84.1%. Mei had niche uses in Season 2, but she has yet …
Is Overwatch dying? Breaking down Overwatch’s 2020 player count
Olivia Richman
News
The cry of “Overwatch is dead” is by now a familiar one. But is the player count really declining that dramatically in 2020? It’s hard to say for sure. Blizzard has refused to reveal any specific player count statistics to the public. It’s also not on Steam, which keeps track of each game’s download rates, time played, and more. But common sense and a few other methods say that there …
Washington Justice will start OWL without LullSiSH due to visa
Olivia Richman
News
The Washington Justice will be one player down when they start playing in the Overwatch League next weekend. Their main tank, Lukas “LullSiSH” Wiklund, won’t be able to compete on February 15 thanks to some unfortunate visa issues. The Washington Justice announced the frustrating news on Twitter, referring to “extenuating circumstances” with the Swedish player’s visa. “We’re continuing to work hand in hand with him, his agent, and our immigration …
Here’s what happened at Overwatch League’s opening weekend
gabhernandez
News
Overwatch League Season 3 has begun and after two seasons in the Blizzard Arena, pro players are hitting the road. WIN.gg was in attendance for the New York City Homestand, which featured the New York Excelsior, Paris Eternal, Boston Uprising and London Spitfire. Fans have been anxiously awaiting the start of the third season, to see what the new homestand format would look like. Most homestands will probably feature similar …
OWL Season 3’s Cheez-It broadcast stumbles become meme material
gabhernandez
News
The Overwatch League broadcast team took some heat during season three’s opening weekend due to a handful of broadcast stumbles. Fans were eager to see how the Overwatch League would look and perform after leaving Twitch in favor of YouTube. Most fans were happy with YouTube’s performance on this front, but some fans complained of buffering issues during the broadcast. Despite this, most fans were content with their viewing experience, …
Overwatch has become a mainstay in competitive gaming, though the Blizzard creation hasn’t always had a smooth road to travel. From massive peaks of success to major controversies and dips in popularity, the Overwatch franchise has proved resilient, still playing host to legions of players and fans.
Along the way, the game served as host to one of the most ambitious projects in the growing history of esports, and saw the release of a sequel that changed in form and function multiple times before finally releasing to the public.
What is Overwatch?
Overwatch is a prototypical “hero shooter,” a game that combines first-person shooting gameplay with heroic abilities that are unique to each of the game’s diverse cast of characters. One character might swing a giant hammer and wield a protective shield behind which teammate can take cover, while another might zip around the game’s world with twin guns blazing, warping time and space at will.
That variety of characters and playing styles is a big reason for Overwatch’s success. When no two characters play exactly alike, the sheer variety available in the game becomes a draw. Throw in colorful visuals, dynamic and responsive gameplay, and action-packed battles between teams of opposing players all combining their different abilities together, and you can begin to understand the popularity of Overwatch.
When developers at Blizzard first released Overwatch, there was nothing else quite like it. The closest any major release had come was likely Team Fortress 2, which also featured teams of opposing characters wielding varied abilities in prolonged battles. But Overwatch leaned even further into the unique qualities of its characters, including their presentation. Across PCs and consoles alike, the game proved to be a sensation upon its 2016 release.
What happened to the Overwatch League?
Originally founded in 2017, the Overwatch League was meant to serve as a long-term competitive hub for the game’s professional teams and players prior to its official shutdown in 2024. The league was created with big ambitions in mind, as Blizzard, by then partnered with massive publisher Activision, planned to seed local teams in a variety of cities spread across the world. The idea was to emulate traditional professional sports by rooting pro teams in certain cities and regions in the hopes of cultivating local fan followings.
This was a big change compared what had become the standard in esports, with esports organizations representing themselves to their fans regardless of region. At most, broad regions such as North America or Europe were most often marketed to by individual teams. To hone that in on a specific city was a significant change.
Activision-Blizzard also took the step of making pro Overwatch a closed system; that is, high-level tournaments were broadly restricted outside of official OWL events. While this exclusivity offered theoretical opportunity for the OWL through scarcity, it was also a different approach relevant to the established norm in esports, which traditionally saw smaller grass-roots events feed into a game’s highest levels as tournaments gradually scaled up in prominence and prize offerings.
Demanding tens of millions of dollars from investors who sought to own an OWL team and signing big-money exclusive broadcast deals with streaming platforms, the OWL got itself off to a hot start. But concerns over flagging viewership and overall revenue struggles persisted as the league marched forward. Its intended model proved unsustainable, and the league was eventually shut down.
Do people still play Overwatch?
Despite the fate of OWL, Overwatch remains broadly popular in its current form: Overwatch 2. The game remains under active development at Activision-Blizzard, regularly receiving new in-game events and more unique heroes with special abilities that allow the game to be played in different ways.
The release of Overwatch 2 was itself not without some controversy, as Blizzard’s plans for its contents changed and shifted through the sequel’s development cycle, and the final version of OW2 released as more of a continuation of the original game than a distinctly different sequel. But that continuation still preserved the gameplay and overall experience so many players had come to love about OW. For them, getting more of the same ultimately was not an issue.
