Over the past few weeks, speculation has grown over when further Overwatch 2 Details will be released by the publisher Blizzard. However, it seems we have new intel that this is sooner than we think. Indeed, we’re expecting news as soon as September 25th, read on to learn more!
Overwatch 2 Details – An Exhibition Match Too
Accordingly, everything was confirmed in the following Tweet at the Overwatch Twitter Account. Take a look for yourself below:
Woo woo woo whee woo whee!
Group up with the Overwatch team on September 25 as we reveal new Overwatch 2 updates live during the @OverwatchLeague Grand Finals.
To kick things off, Blizzard will be showing off some competitive reworks for Sombra and Bastion – they’ll be keeping the same heroes but adding some changes to their abilities for the sake of balancing. Also, some aesthetic changes are also expected.
Then, following this, Bastion is receiving a makeover too.
Yet, the dressing on the cake is an Overwatch 2 Exhibition Match. Accordingly, for the first time ever, the community can finally check out some live and unedited gameplay of the sequel.
Credits: Overwatch
However, expectations are all over the place. Indeed, some look forward to being surprised while many might be underwhelmed.
Honestly, we don’t know what to expect. Yet, we’re certain that this is a huge moment for the scene. Let’s hope for the best in this regard.
The next year of competition relies on the success of this upcoming sequel. We’ll be watching once it all goes live at the OWL Playoffs.
It’s finally coming. Indeed, after a long and incredible season, the Overwatch League 2021 is ready to conclude. Indeed, the OWL Playoffs 2021 look to celebrate the highest level of competition and settle the big question – who’s the best in the world? Read on to learn How to Watch this awesome event!
Event Background
Don't look now, but the #OWL2021 Playoffs are right around the corner 👀
Heading into this event, there is a level of disappointment. Indeed, although originally planned for an offline event at Esports Stadium Arlington, Blizzard moved the event to online due to health issues.
Instead, West teams will be travelling to Hawaii in order to reduce latency while the East teams will remain in the East.
Regardless, we have some awesome competition to look forward to.
Running from 21st to the 25th September, Blizzard are throwing $3,200,000 on the line for the best 8 teams in the world.
Qualification for this event involved teams entering through the Countdown Cup and the Play-In event this past week. Let’s list the participants below:
West:
Dallas Fuel
Los Angeles Gladiators
Atlanta Reign
San Francisco Shock – Play-In
Washington Justice – Play-In
The #OWL2021 season has been full of incredible highlights… and also these 😬
Check out the 10 biggest fails of the 2021 season!
With regards to format, we have a very simple and reliable double elimination bracket to sort things out.
All 8 teams will be starting off in the Winners’ Bracket Round 1. Do note that the top three teams chose their first round-opponents in succession. Anyways, here are your Round 1 matches:
Shanghai Dragons vs San Francisco Shock
Los Angeles Gladiators vs Philadelphia Fusion
Dallas Fuel vs Washington Justice
Chengdu Hunters vs Atlanta Reign
Credits: Blizzard (Robert Paul)
The same format as prior season Playoffs – we’re ready to see it through.
For those unaware, a double-elimination bracket implies that teams who lose their first round match will be sent to the Losers’ Bracket and have one final chance to stay in the tournament.
Schedule for the OWL Playoffs 2021
With regards to the schedule for this exciting event, you can visit the official event page for the schedule here.
Watch the OWL Playoffs 2021 on esportsguide
You can also watch the OWL Playoffs 2021 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
It’s been a very exciting season, and it’s quite difficult to determine who the top team in the game. Accordingly, what we’ll be doing is taking another look at the season standings while placing importance on recency.
Credits: Blizzard
Here’s how the West Regular season concluded:
Dallas Fuel – 17p
Los Angeles Gladiators – 14p
Atlanta Reign – 13p
With that being said, many would say that these are your top three teams for the West. However, who is your number one?
Let’s list the top three season finishes for the East and tackle this tough topic:
Shanghai Dragons – 20p
Chengdu Hunters – 15p
Seoul Dynasty – 12p
Anyways, our best bet to correctly predict this upcoming event is to take a look at the recent Countdown Cup. With both regions involved, here is how the top 4 finished:
Los Angeles Gladiators
Chengdu Hunters
Atlanta Reign
Seoul Dynasty
It's all come down to this 👀
Think you know who the next #OWL2021 Champion is? Enter the Perfect Bracket Contest for the chance to earn $100,000!
Although definitely a surprise, we’re unsure as to whether Los Angeles Gladiators will manage to rise to the opportunity once again. Otherwise, this is likely the year that San Francisco Shock does not take it all, unless they make a ridiculous run.
We’ve got some awesome news for competitive Overwatch. Indeed, only a few days ago, Blizzard went public with details for the next competitive season. Accordingly, read on to learn more about what we know so far about the Overwatch League 2022
Overwatch League 2022 – Confirmed by the Vice President
Overwatch League 2020 Season 2020-03-07 / Photo: Joshua Roberts For Activision Blizzard
We’ll start with the idea that the Overwatch League will be returning next year at the usual time of year in April. This is great news despite rumours that there would be a delayed return due to Overwatch 2 taking development time.
In this regard, Jon Spector, the Vice President of the Overwatch League, went public with the following Tweet:
I've seen a lot of speculation regarding a 2022 start date for OWL. We can confirm that our plan is to begin next season in April 2022. We will share more details about 2022 roster construction timelines soon and more info generally on our 2022 season as we get closer to April.
Following this piece of news, we also have another confirmation from the same individual of Jon Spector as he retweeted the following piece of information:
I can confirm, via an Overwatch League spokesperson, that the 2022 season will “begin on an early build of Overwatch 2.” Wow.
Credits: Liz Richardson Twitter (confirmed by Jon Spector)
This second piece of news is also very comforting.
We’re very excited to hear more good news and keep Overwatch on this journey of rebounding from its earlier low point.
With hopes high for the upcoming Overwatch postseason, there’s still some difficulties to get over. Indeed, Blizzard just came out today with a new statement. Accordingly, the Overwatch League Postseason events will no longer have a live crowd!
Overwatch League Postseason – What Now?
Heading into this postseason, the Play-Ins and Playoffs were set to take place live in stage. Indeed, with venues in Dallas and Los Angeles, everything looked to be awesome.
Overwatch League 2020 Season 2020-03-07 / Photo: Joshua Roberts For Activision Blizzard
Everything came crashing down with an announcement from Blizzard yesterday:
Unfortunately, since we originally announced plans for the postseason, the environment has changed significantly. After continued consultation with our teams, we are no longer confident that all of them would be able to travel to the United States with their full rosters.
We have therefore made the difficult decision to pivot from live events centered around Dallas and Los Angeles and will instead return to Hawaii for postseason competition. We will share more details in the coming days about how this will work, including updated dates for playoffs.
In the world of roster changes, players are dropped for many reasons. Accordingly, common examples include poor performance, contract expiration, retirement, injury and others. Indeed, a rare cause is due to poor player behaviour. However, that’s exactly why Hangzhou Spark Drops MCD. Read on to learn more!
Hangzhou Spark Drops MCD – Weeks Before Play-In
So, why exactly was Lee “MCD” Jeong-ho, as the flex support for Hangzhou Spark, dropped?
Well, due to a comment he passed during a ranked match against another individual from China. As the clip surfaced and spread across the community, the profanity and racism on display was not very impressive.
Almost immediately following this revelation, Hangzhou Spark immediately took action and failed to tolerate this behaviour as made clear on Twitter:
While the community applauds this action, others are against how harsh the move is.
Of course, one needs to understand that a franchised organization’s appearance to sponsors and the industry are heavily influenced by the behaviour of players. Indeed, Hangzhou Spark is associated and owned by Chinese company Bilibili, as an example.
Credits: Blizzard
Also, such a move hurts the team in terms of performance. Specifically, this is taking place before the Play-Ins for the OWL Playoffs in a week or so.
So far, it’s likely that the substitue of Tong “ColdEst” Xiaodong will step in – but will he be able to fill the shoes and help the team?
Accordingly, MCD could have ended his own and his team’s season in one offense.
For the Overwatch League regular season, it’s the final countdown. Accordingly, it’s only fitting that it all concludes with the OWL Countdown Cup 2021 next week. With the qualifiers taking place these past few days, we’ve packed all the viewership details for the main event below!
Event Background
Mark your calendars, we're doing it LIVE 🙌#OWL2021 playoffs head to Arlington 9/16-9/19 and finish in LA for Grand Finals on 9/25!
In terms of format, it all kicks off with two separate double elimination brackets.
Accordingly, the West and East regions will first battle it out to present the top two competitors from each region. Note that here, a single-elimination bracket means that teams only have one chance to proceed.
On one side, the 6 teams of the West region have been seeded into two stages of a bracket as follows:
Quarterfinals – Toronto Defiant vs Paris Eternal, San Francisco Shock vs Dallas Fuel
Semifinals – Atlanta Reign vs TBD, Los Angeles Gladiators vs TBD
Meanwhile, over on the East region, the four teams will compete immediately for spots at the semifinals:
Semifinals – New York Excelsior vs Chengdu Hunters, Seoul Dynasty vs Philadelphia Fusion
With four final teams, the final double elimination bracket will take place. Starting in the Winners’ Bracket, East vs West will kick things off. Since this is a ‘double’ elimination bracket, this means that teams will have a second chance to stay in the competition thanks to the Losers’ Bracket.
Finally, the event will conclude with an awesome Grand Final.
Schedule for the OWL Countdown Cup 2021
In terms of schedule, take a look at the following tweet from the Overwatch League for the first stage of the competition:
Folks, it's Knockout Sunday!
The bell is going to ring soon, so let's get ready to rumble!
For the remainder of the schedule, we highly recommend visiting the official event page here.
Watch the OWL Countdown Cup 2021 on esportsguide
You can also watch the OWL Countdown Cup 2021 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
Speaking of which, we’ll be picking our top two teams from reach region to watch out for as contenders for this upcoming event:
West:
Atlanta Reign – offering an almost flawless performance in the Qualifiers with a 4-0 scoreline at 12-5 in map count, Atlanta Reign have surprised everyone with their rise. Indeed, can they keep this up when it matters?
San Francisco Shock – although third in the seeding, beneath Los Angeles Gladiators, the Shock have been so close to glory so many times in the past few weeks and are a safe bet to turn it up in the coming days
East:
Chengdu Hunters – the other top team from the group stage, Chengdu Hunters are rising while Shanghai Dragons are sinking. This, together with an impressive 4-0 record with 12-3 for map count, they are the event favourites
Seoul Dynasty – another team hot on their tale is none other than Seoul Dynasty. Thanks to some key signings and great teamwork, this team looks to be peaking at the right time of year.
One exciting part of the post-season is looking back at an entire season of competition. Accordingly, many organizers take the opportunity to award recognition prizes such as the MVP. Read on to learn about the OWL Season MVP Candidates which are live now!
OWL Season MVP Candidates 2021 – One of Many Awards
Indeed, the MVP (most valuable player) award is one of many. However, it is the one which holds the most wait for individual competitors.
So, only days ago, Blizzard Activision released a shortlist of 10 finalists to be voted for between August 13-26th. With $50,000 on the line and a trophy, this is no joke.
Take a look at the ten finalists below for the MVP Regular Season Award:
Euiseok “Fearless” Lee – Dallas Fuel
Xin “Leave” Huang – Chengdu Hunters
Hanbeen “Hanbin” Choi – Dallas Fuel
Yeonghm “Sp9rk1e” Kim – Dallas Fuel
Byungsum “Fleta” Kim – Shanghai Dragons
Jae Won “Lip” Lee – Shanghai Dragons
Min Chul “Izayaki” Kim – Shanghai Dragons
Sehyun “Pelican” Oh – Atlanta Reign
Jin Seo “Shu” Kim – Los Angeles Gladiators
Junyoung “Profit” Park – Seoul Dynasty
It's the last day of the #OWL2021 Regular Season, and it's going to be a good one.
Trying to follow competitive Overwatch has been a turbulent ride over the past few days. Beyond the loss of sponsorship for the OWL, the OWL 2022 Season is also being jeaprodized with reports stating that there may be a potential delay for next season. Read on as we dive into the rumours!
OWL 2022 Season – Listing the Rumours
Credits; Blizzard Entertainment
Indeed, the best thing to do here is to take a step back. In doing so, we have the opportunity to list all of the rumours below for you:
Sources told Dot Esports – they may be making the 2021 offseason longer by adding more events as the development of Overwatch 2 is taking so long
Overwatch leaker Metro – has revealed that the relase of Overwatch 2 is not likely for 2022, taking much longer than expected. (Reliable leaker, with successful leaks in the past).
OW2 News
I've heard from multiple people close to my original source with OW2 that the development is taking longer than expected. From what I can gather a release in 2022 does not seem likely anymore. I hope this is false and I'm proven wrong.
Accordingly, these two rumours are the main source for the entire discussion. With regards to a response, Blizzard has only confirmed that there will NOT be a ‘hiatus year’.
Sadly, one thing is on everyone’s mind – can Overwatch survive this both as a competitive and casual game?
Credits: Blizzard (Robert Paul)
In the minds of many, it’s a very unlikely notion. Professionals cannot simply wait for the next game to be ready, and may rotate to other esports as they’ve already done with VALORANT for example.
It’s been a tough week for the Overwatch League. Indeed, all across the news headlines are being made over Overwatch League Sponsors dropping out. Read on to learn what’s going on and the potential effects.
Overwatch League Sponsors – What’s Next?
Credits: Blizzard Activision
For those unaware, sponsors are essential for event organizers in terms of finance. Accordingly, they offer marketing in return for financial support. Indeed, that’s why gaining sponsors is so important, and losing them isn’t desirable.
Ever since Activision Blizzard dived into a lawsuit last week, sponsors have desired to dissociate themselves with the organization. For some reason, the Overwatch League is facing the brunt of this.
So far, the following sponsors have left:
Kellogg’s
State Farm
Coca Cola
T-Mobile (Rumoured)
Credits: Blizzard (Robert Paul)
Here’s what a Kellogg’s spokesperson told Polygon only a few days ago:
While Activision Blizzard has announced plans to address the challenging issues it faces, we will not be moving forward with any new programs this year, but will continue to review progress made against their plans
Credits: Kellogg’s Spokesperson w/ Polygon
It’s definitely not looking to great for the Overwatch League – both in terms of sponsorship and also viewership too.
Hopefully, Activision Blizzard can resolve internal issues quick enough before more permanent damage can take place.
As we draw nearer to the end of the 2021 Overwatch League Postseason, we’re hungry for details. Accordingly, just a few days ago Blizzard-Activision went live with a new press release. Within this announcement, we now have details for the exciting postseason. Read on for a quick recap.
Overwatch League Postseason – Fact Sheet
Mark your calendars, we're doing it LIVE 🙌#OWL2021 playoffs head to Arlington 9/16-9/19 and finish in LA for Grand Finals on 9/25!
Furthermore, there are a few more details. With regards to seeding, it varies depending on the region. Specifically, the top three teams from the West Region and the top two from the East Region will earn a direct spot at Playoffs based on League Points.
The remaining spots will be fought for by lower placings. Indeed, the final two spots in West will be fought for by the 4-9th spots, while in the East, 3-5th will compete for a final spot.
All of this action will boil down to the Grand Finals where $1.5 million are up for grabs.
