When Overwatch launched in 2016, people knew it was going to be huge. Blizzard had done a great job of hyping it up to extreme levels, but even then, it’s unlikely they knew exactly how big it was going to get. Fast forward nearly two years and 35+ million gamers later, and things are about to reach a new high for the game, as the Overwatch League will be arriving tomorrow. But now, we have a new twist in the tale, for the League will now be available solely on Twitch.
That’s right, the streaming service has apparently paid Blizzard $90 million dollars to get the rights to livestream every single match in the League’s first season. VentureBeat broke the news on this, and needless to say, that’s a big deal. Blizzard really wants the Overwatch League to succeed, as this could be the start of a new revolution in esports, and with Overwatch leading the way? It could lead to many big things.
The League is very different from other esports tournaments and leagues as this one focuses on bringing teams together to represent cities and countries from all over the world. What’s more, they actually have contracts, which ensure that they’re going to make money both for playing, and for doing great in tournaments.
The first matches of the League will take place tomorrow at 3PM PST, and it’ll feature the San Francisco Shock versus the Los Angeles Valiant. The matches will continue on until the end of the season in July.
Again, this is a huge deal for Twitch, which is already a place where people go to watch esports tournaments, and now that the Overwatch League is going to be exclusive to Twitch, it opens up the gateway to numerous new viewers, even ones who have never used Twitch before. That’s exciting.