Things haven’t been looking too good for the Overwatch League and Blizzard Entertainment lately. Some of the best players left the game and moved to Riot’s new shooter Valorant. Others got burnout or injured and ended their careers. But recent reports are encouraging that things could be looking up again.

But what led to the latest upswing? In contrast to previous years, monthly tournaments were held in which teams competed against each other for three weeks to determine the winner in playoffs. The format was well received. Not only with the fans, but also with the players. Due to the current Corona-related situation, the games were played online. The pros didn’t have to travel as much and were able to focus on the hero pools.
In addition, some reports caused uncertainty, which made the fans fear for the continued existence of the league.

Jon Spector, Vice President of the Overwatch League, now gave an update on the current status of the OWL via Twitter and presented rough plans for 2021:

• The last two tournaments achieved viewership records in Asia. The other regions were also strongly represented.
• In 2021, the monthly tournament format is to be continued, building on the good experience of the last few weeks.
• The introduction of hero pools was viewed positively, as they ensured a fluid transformation of the meta, among other things.

Additionally, Jon Spector noted:

“We spent a lot of time talking to all the teams and discussing different options for a revised playoff structure this – Season . The teams at the top of the standings will obviously have advantages, but basically any team will be able to participate in the playoffs.”
More information on this and concrete plans for the format in 2021 will follow soon, the vice president said.

We at esport.directory hope that the situation around the Overwatch League will calm down again and Blizzard Entertainment will soon be able to continue the success of old days.

If you haven’t checked in for a while, here’s the YouTube channel for the league. If you want to get back into Overwatch yourself, take a look here.

Overwatch

Overwatch is a computer game by Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo 3, World of Warcraft) and a first-person shooter with individual fantasy elements. The game was released in May 2016.

In Overwatch, the player must choose between 21 unique characters, which can be freely selected in a loosely held classification system (offensive and defensive class, support unit and tanks).

A character’s three to four different abilities can be controlled and activated through the mouse and keyboard. The game modes already vary from scoring points to cargo hauling. Team play is required in both modes, as each character takes on a specific role in the battlefield (e.g. heal teammates, provide backup, or secure defensive lines).

The name Overwatch derives itself from a fictional elite military unit that came together when robots tried to subjugate humanity in a near future. Individual characters are associated with this unit in the game, while others oppose it. It is not yet known whether the storyline will continue in multiplayer.

Brawl

Brawl is a game mode in which time-limited rule variations of the well-known modes are drawn. Sometimes completely new game modes are used in Brawls.

Rule variations include, for example, the restriction to certain heroes or classes, changes to the cool-down times or certain cards. New game modes that have been playable so far include a soccer game and a PvE mode.

Usually, Brawls are restarted as Brawl of the Week every Tuesday at 22:00 UTC and are then playable for a week. On certain occasions, such as – Season al events, Brawls may also be playable for a longer or shorter period of time.

The game mode is comparable to the card chaos from Hearthstone and was activated for the first time in the beta phase on March 22, 2016 through a patch.

Actions

• Arcade: More health, shorter skill and ultimate cooldowns, and faster resurrection after death.
• Girl Power: Female heroes only.
• Head’s Up!: McCree, Genji, Hanzo, and Widowmaker. Only head hits count.
• High Noon: High Noon on Route 66, only head hits with McCree count.
• Highly Offensive: Only offensive heroes. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• Junkenstein’s Revenge: Soldier, Hanzo, Ana, Mc Cree only (1 each). The first co-op PVE mode in Overwatch. Part of the – Season al event Halloween Horror.
• Justice rains from Above: Only Mercy and Pharah playable.
• Moba Watch: Only unique heroes per team. No hero switching allowed.
• Mystery Heroes: Upon death, you will be resurrected as a randomly selected Hero.
• Overly Defensive: Only defensive heroes. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• Show Your Support: Support Heroes only. The limit is two of the same Hero per team.
• Super Shimada Bros: Welcome to Hanamura. Only Hanzo and Genji are playable. Shorter skill cooldowns, longer ultimate cooldowns.
• Tanks A Lot: Tank heroes only. Limit is two of the same hero per team.
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Only McCree, Reaper and Roadhog playable.
• We’re all Soldiers now: Only Soldier: 76 playable on control cards.
• Lucioball: Lucio only: Soccer mode, 3 vs 3.
• Yeti Hunt: Five meis against a yeti that has the characteristics of Winston.

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