During Blizzcon 2016, The Overwatch League was revealed to the public showcasing Blizzard's new E-Sports system for Overwatch. Many fans, businesses, and cities became ecstatic to the news since this will challenge E-Sports to modify their current system to more of a traditional sports system.
The Overwatch League is not a revolution but a standard for what E-Sports needs to be. The Overwatch League will have city-based teams, minimum player contracts, player benefits, and a Players Combine that is basically what we are used to from traditional sports leagues like the NFL and NBA. This will make E-Sports more of an attractive business for sponsors and pave the way for amateur gamers to become pros. This system is needed because this allows cities and fans to rally behind teams that are stable which allow big businesses like Coca-Cola, Facebook, etc. feel comfortable on sponsoring teams. But what does this mean for the players?
With the introduction of minimum player contracts and benefits, pros can have a stable career in the E-Sports world without worrying if they won the championship or not. This allows more players to see E-Sports as a real career and a chance to focus on practicing without a huge burden over their head. What we will see is better competition and the rallying of fans across a nation to support a team. This will only grow as the league develops and allow more teams into its system.
To continue on the benefits of this league we now have reasons as gamers to get better at our game. Not only does Overwatch get a huge boost but all E-Sports games now have a new standard on how to operate. For example, Riot Games might match Blizzard's system which will allow League of Legends to grow and develop into a traditional sports system. Or imagine if Super Smash Bros. Started focusing on a larger scale E-Sports system, what Blizzard has done will change E-Sports forever.
With the Players Combine coming up in 2017 we will see more third party tournaments rise up, streamers focusing more content on Overwatch and a better pool of players in Ranked Play. That is because they all have one goal, to become noticed and be invited to the Players Combine. From more downloads of Public Test Realm (PTR) for Overwatch to the increased view count of competitive play of Overwatch, The Overwatch League is already taking effect.
In conclusion, The Overwatch League is a welcome standard to our current E-Sports system. It will allow development of business relations, player's skill, and quality of broadcasting all to new levels thanks to Blizzard. I know that my hours of play jumped right up once the league was announced and I focused on viable heroes and strategy for matches. Maybe I will see you on the battlegrounds in Overwatch in the race of becoming one of the best. Good luck heroes, you are going to need it.
