Following the conclusion of an exciting event such as the Overwatch League Summer Showdown, there’s a tonne to dig into. Beyond a simple recap, here at esportsguide we like to delve a little deeper. Accordingly, after digging through viewership statistics, it seems that viewership for the 2021 season seems to be on the decline.
Overwatch League Summer Showdown Viewership – Fizzling Out
Indeed, for those unaware, the season this year kicked off rather late all the way in May. Accordingly, we’ll start here with our looks at the statistics.
May Melee – 113,467 Peak Viewers, 69,138 Average Viewers
June Joust – 82,856 Peak Viewers, 52,052 Average Viewers
Summer Showdown – 70,082 Peak Viewers, 48,130 Average Viewers
As you can see, in all both parameters of Peak and Average Viewers, statistics have been slowly declining. Indeed, the question to ask here is why?
To begin with, the main reason the first event likely has more viewers than the others is due to context. Indeed, May Melee was the first Overwatch event since last October – the levels of excitement where there.
The @CocaCola Summer Showdown was WILD, and it's safe to say that the @ShanghaiDragons can't be tamed 🐉
Ever since last year, placing third at the OWL 2020 Playoffs Grand Finals, Shanghai Dragons have had a bone to pick. Indeed, the team has not let off the steam since. Accordingly, after winning June Joust, this past weekend they earned another win at the Overwatch League Summer Showdown. Read on for a quick recap.
Overwatch League Summer Showdown – A Dominant Path
The $225,000 event had one thing to prove – who’s on top of competitive Overwatch right now. Shanghai Dragons went through multiple opponents at the Tournament Weekend last week. Accordingly, below is a list of this journey:
Shanghai Dragons 3-0 Atlanta Reign
Shanghai Dragons 3-2 Chengdu Hunters
Chengdu Hunters 1-4 Shanghai Dragons
Heading into this event, the three favourites were definitely Shanghai Dragons, Chengdu Hunters and Dallas Fuel. Indeed, it’s no surprise that these teams made the top 3.
In order to win, the Shanghai Dragons had to take down Chengdu Hunters twice. While initially the match was close, in the Grand Final it was rather one-sided.
In terms of records, it is official that Shanghai are now only the second team in history of the OWL to win 2 events back to back. Notably, within the community the term ‘dynasty’ is being thrown about
However, in order to become a dynasty, they’ll need to show up when it matters more later on in the season.
We’ll see if they can keep this up at the Countdown Cup starting July 30th.
The regular season of Overwatch this year has definitely improved from last year. Indeed, the frequent events offer a more exciting schedule. This is no exception when considering the upcoming OWL Summer Showdown 2021. Accordingly, with the Qualifier Stage underway, we’ll be taking a look at How to Watch the main event below!
Event Background
Anyone else's Pick'Ems boomed after last weekend? ✋
Hopefully, the odds will be more in everyone's favor this week! Here's the schedule for Week 2 of the #OWL2021 Summer Showdown Qualifiers! pic.twitter.com/8eBVEhcynO
Overall, this is the third tournament style event for the season. Following the May Melee and June Joust, we now have the Summer Showdown. Now, 10 teams will qualify to compete for $225,000 together with league points. Specifically, the event will run from 11th July all the way to 18th July.
The top 10 teams will be decided in this manner – the Top 6 from the West and Top 4 from the East. So far undecided, let’s take the time to list the potential contenders.
Following the group stage which is underway, the top 10 teams will be seeded into the Knockout Stage immediately. Here, there will be separate Regional Knockouts brackets for each region – from which two teams from each region will qualify. Specifically, West will be a Double Elimination and East a Single Elimination bracket.
Accordingly, this leaves 4 teams to compete in the Tournament Weekend. Here, the top 4 teams will compete in a double elimination bracket to determine the overall victor.
Schedule for the OWL Summer Showdown
Find the following dates and times for the start of the stream in the following list:
11th July – 11:00 CEST – first round of the Regional Knockouts
12th July – 11:00 CEST – second round of Regional Knockouts
16th July – 04:30 CEST – first round of Tournament Weekend
17th July – 03:00 CEST – second round of Tournament Weekend
18th July – 03:00 CEST – Grand Finals
Do note a more detailed schedule can be found on the OWL YouTube page.
Watch the OWL Summer Showdown on esportsguide
You can also watch the OWL Summer Showdown 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.
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) July 2, 2021
Credits: Overwatch League Twitter
Although we don’t have the official top 10 teams attending the event, we’ll be basing our predictions on previous results. Do note that the Tournament event begins only a day after the Group Stage concludes, which is why we’re thinking ahead.
Anyways, let’s review the official history of the season so far based on standings:
So far, only two teams have made it to the top 2 in the past two events. Indeed, it has been a bit of a dogfight between Dallas Fuel and Shanghai Dragons. So far, both teams have one win at this point in time and this third event could be the event which gives one team the edge.
Otherwise, the viewership and competition looks to improve as we head closer to the end of the season.
Popular Overwatch player Striker has announced that he is departing from the SF Shock team, as well as retiring from Overwatch. Here is the announcement:
Today we say goodbye to @STRIKER_OW. Since joining us in 2018, Striker has been absolutely indispensable to the team. Our back-to-back championships would not have been possible without his hard work.
From the departure video above we cannot identify a clear reason as to why he is retiring from Overwatch. He’s only been competing in Overwatch for about 4 years, meaning that he’s still got a lot of time to prove his abilities in other esports. Brett Lautenbach, who is the president of NRG tweeted a “well-earned retirement” to Striker which indicates that Striker will not be returning to Overwatch competition any time soon. We can only deduct that if Striker continues his esports career, he will play in VALORANT.
Here are Striker’s best achievements in Overwatch with the SF Shock
1st at OWL 2020 Playoffs Grand Finals – 10th October 2020 – $1,500,000
First in OWL 2019 Playoffs – 29th September 2019 – $1,100,000
1st in OWL 2019 Stage 2 Playoffs – 12th may 2019 – $200,000
Who will replace Striker on the Overwatch roster?
With this retirement also came the return of Ans, who left the squad back in January to switch to VALORANT. During his VALORANT period, Ans represented T1 in the early stages, and was later demoted to the academy team. It’s fair to say that it wasn’t the most successful move ever, but now he’s returned to the esport that we all know him for. We hope to see him thrive as he once did with the San Francisco Shock.
Naturally, Blizzard decided to gift the competitive Overwatch community with a sneak peek at Overwatch 2. Accordingly, this is the upcoming title which has been talked about for a while now. Indeed, a recent look at PVP has the community talking. Here at esportsguide, we’ve listed all the details that have been made known so far!
Overwatch 2 – A Concise List
ICYMI: PVP changes coming to Overwatch 2
👊 Tanks can be brawlers 🆚 PVP will be 5v5 🏖️ New maps revealed ⚡ New abilities revealed 🔨 More new hero looks 🎮 New game modes
Accordingly,nNew game modes such as PVE missions (players-vs-environment)
Indeed, shared content between the sequel and the first game – progress will be saved
It will be released on multiple platforms
Gameplay will be moving from 6v6 to 5v5 gameplay – 2 support, 2 dps and 1 single tank
New Maps
Hero Changes and new heroes too
In terms of release date, it’s been made clear that the title won’t be released any time soon:
We have exciting reveals planned for this year and beyond as we ramp to launch. We’ll be sharing more frequent updates about Overwatch 2 progress and new features in the live game with you all very soon.”
Aaron Keller – New Game Director
Race toward the Monte Carlo finish line in Overwatch 2.
There’s a lot to dig into here. Specifically, on the competitive side of things, the move to 5v5 will change everything. Personally, it will help make it less hectic and more strategic, though that’s for another discussion.
Only this last week, the OWL May Melee concluded with Dallas Fuel coming out on top. While it’s a great victory, they’ll need to consider the next event coming up fast. Accordingly, we’ve gathered all of the essential viewership details for the OWL 2021 June Joust below!
Event Background
Similar to the May Melee event, this is strictly the regular season followed up by a tournament for the top 4. Indeed, starting off as soon as May 21st, the Qualifiers will be underway immediately with 4 weeks of qualifier matches.
The @DallasFuel made history this weekend after emerging victorious as champions of the @overwatchleague May Melee tournament. Time to re-evaluate those power rankings.
As I’ll reiterate, this is the second stage of the competitive OWL 2021 season so far. Following the May event, the competition is warming up nicely, especially thanks to this new competitive format.
Format
Just like May, the format is made of multiple stages, with high stakes at each point in time. So far, we’ll be listing the stages of the event as simply as possible:
Qualifiers (May 21st to June 5th)
Tournament (June 6 to 13th)
Keep your head on a swivel, or you just might lose it. The Big Boss is back in action, and is clicking heads for @DallasFuel.
To begin with, in the qualifiers, all teams will be present. Here, the entire West and East regions will battle to earn points. By earning points, 6 teams from the West and 4 from the East will make it to the Tournament.
What do these 10 teams then fight for? Specifically, they’ll be competing for the $225,000 together with further points for the regular season. Only 4 teams will make it to the final weekend of June 11th, where the international champion will be crowned for the month.
Schedule for the OWL 2021 June Joust
With how in-depth the schedule is, below we’ll be offering a quick screenshot of the first few weeks of the qualifier stage.
Beyond that, you can tune in to the Overwatch League official schedule page here.
Watch the OWL 2021 June Joust on esportsguide
You can also watch the OWL 2021 June Joust 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.
Now predictions are very juicy following the May Melee. So much so, many are still unsure whether the current champions will keep their title or if the weekend was in fact a fluke. Bearing this in mind, the following are the top 10 teams ranked after the May Melee:
Dallas Fuel
Shanghai Dragons
Florida Mayhem
Chengdu Hunters
Philadelphia Fusion
Seoul Dynasty
Washington Justice
Houston Outlows
Toronto Defiant
San Francisco Shock
Credits: OWL 2021
Shocker right? Especially for San Francisco Shock, ironically enough. Who would have thought that the likes of Dallas Fuel, Florida Mayhem and Chengdu Hunters make top 4 following such a poor season last year?
Indeed, there is a shift in the competitive scene and from an objective point of view, this is great for the community in general.
Moving forward though, Dallas Fuel will need to keep the momentum up. The likes of Shanghai Dragons will be hot on their tale. What about last year’s champions? Indeed, San Francisco Shock are definitely quite lacking and need to work on bouncing back.
Credits: Overwatch League
While predictions are difficult this early on, I’m confident that we’re in for an incredible event. So much so, that I half expect more teams to consider rebuilding their rosters after seeing the success other esports organizations have found.
Furthermore, I expect viewership to bump up too. The peak viewership of 113,467 in May was great, but there’s definitely space for improvement.
The Overwatch League May Melee event was a huge success for competitive Overwatch. Finally, the scene had the chance to really show off some awesome competition. However, in this article, we’ll be focusing strictly on the competition. Namely, Dallas Fuel managed to pull off an incredible victory! Let’s carefully go over their awesome journey!
Overwatch League May Melee – Dallas Redemption
An anime protagonist, a trip to Hawaii, and a broken cycle. Take a look at what went into @DallasFuel's historic May Melee victory.
Accordingly, the Dallas Fuel suffered a very poor season last year. That’s when the organization decided to make a tonne of changes and form a new roster. Heading into this May Melee event, they managed to earn a top 4 spot for the Tournament Weekend. Indeed, the following is the list of games that the Dallas Fuel played to earn success:
Accordingly, each match between Dallas Fuel and the favourites of Shanghai Dragons was simply incredible. Notably, the grand final of the Overwatch League May Melee went down to the wire. This win for Dallas Fuel is a massive surprise for the entire league and places an importance on intelligent roster changes. Indeed, the other teams present all reformed their squads and it paid off.
We can’t wait to see how the season builds off of this.
Paris Eternal parting ways with neptuNo – Who is he?
29-year-old Alberto “neptuNo” González is an Overwatch player from Spain. He started his career back in 2016 with the Stone Templars roster. From then, he went on to play for multiple familiar names of teams. Namely: Team Vitality, Mousesports, Cloud9 EU, Philadelphia Fusion, Guangzhou Charge, and most recently, Paris Eternal. During his 5-year long career, he’s earned an approximate total of $131,220 in esports earnings.
Here are some of neptuNo’s best results with Paris Eternal:
2nd in OWL Inaugural Season Playoffs – 28th July 2018 – $400,000
6th in OWL Inaugural Season – 17th June 2018 – $100,000
4th at OWL 2020 Asia Playoffs – 12th September 2020 – $75,000
1st in OWL 2020 Summer Showdown – 5th July 2020 – $65,000
Credits: Blizzard Entertainment
What’s next for neptuNo?
With neptuNo already being 29 years of age, he can be considered “old” in esports terms. Usually when players reach a certain age, their motivation towards competition decreases, and end up in a coaching role. This is what he said about his future:
“What’s next? my future is uncertain. I found myself enjoying coaching inside the team, and it seems like it would be a natural transition for me. First, I’m taking a break to think about what I want to do and rest. I’ll be back soon, but wanted to make sure I first took the time to say “thank you” to everyone who has helped me and supported me during these 4 years. I’m grateful for you all.”
Heading into this new season of competitive Overwatch, the greatest change came in the form of the format. Indeed, instead of regular league matches, stages would have qualifying and tournament steps to spice things up. With the Overwatch May Melee Qualifier stage over, the Tournament Weekend awaits us. Read on for a short preview!
Overwatch May Melee Tournament – Testing the Format
Credits: Overwatch League
The four teams are as follows:
Shanghai Dragons
Florida Mayhem
Dallas Fuel
Chengdu Hunters
Hailing as the top 2 from the East and West, there’s everything to play for. Accordingly, beyond the $225,000 prize pool, there are also League Points for the top 3 too. Kicking off on Friday May 7th, we have the following bracket to look forward to:
In terms of predictions, everything’s out of the window here. At the start of the season, the only team predicted to make it here was Shanghai Dragons. Otherwise, the other three are all new rosters making big waves in the scene – perhaps they could clench a win this weekend?
For viewership, you’ll want to check out the OWL YouTube channel for full coverage, while you can also check out our very own How to Watch guide here at esportsguide. Earlier on this week, we also discussed the return to form for Overwatch viewership. Accordingly, this weekend is an opportunity to test the community in this regard.
Heading into this next season of competitive Overwatch, we have high hopes. Accordingly, following a season of general disappointment, a lot of work needs to be done. With the return of the competition this past week though, it seems that we might witness a return to form, starting with Overwatch Viewership – time for a State of the Community.
Why Were We Worried About Overwatch?
I’ll do a bit of explaining before diving into the recent statistics. Heading into this season, last season saw an all-time low in terms of viewership statistics for the Overwatch League. Pair this together with a failing Tier 2 scene (Contenders) and general doubts, the scene wasn’t in the right place at that point in time.
Credits: Blizzard
Accordingly, for 2021, the format has been overhauled to be oriented around an-event based schedule – making things more exciting. Following a long post-season, statistics are showing statistics on par with last season – let’s see how they compare!
Overwatch Viewership – Set to Beat 2020
Indeed, viewership at main events will always be better than during a regular season. Bear this in mind as we pull out viewership statistics courtesy of Esports Charts. Let’s dive right into a direct comparison!
2019 Stage 1 Season – 297,888 Peak Viewers, 167,759 Average Viewers
2020 Overwatch League May Melee – 85,568 Peak Viewers, 61,128 Average Viewers
2021 Overwatch League May Melee – 113,115 Peak Viewers, 68,493 Average Viewers
Credits: Overwatch League
To begin with, I’ll point out that the idea of ‘May Melee’ kicked off in 2020.
Anyways, be sure to take a close look at those statistics. As you can clearly see, there was a sizeable dip from 2019 moving over to 2020 – a 70% drop in viewership! Notably, in this time period, Activision Blizzard signed an exclusivity deal for viewership with YouTube. Accordingly, this may have contributed somewhat to the viewership drop, but this remains unclear.
Now, we can finally focus our gaze on the recent kick off for the 2021 May Melee. We can happily confirm a 32% rise in peak viewership and a 12% increase in average viewership SO FAR. Yes, we’ll also point out that the May Melee event for 2021 has only just begun.
Setting Up For the Playoffs – Calculating Overwatch Viewership
Credits: Ovewatch League
Ok so – the regular season is definitely doing better than last year. Yet, what else can we discuss? I’d like to calculate how this current statistic sets up the Playoffs at the end of the season.
Over the 2020 season, the Playoffs Grand Finals earned 183,036 Peak Viewers and 92 890 Average Viewers. Specifically, this is an average increase of 183% in both parameters. Using this as a standard, we can set up a prediction for what the Grand Finals could achieve later on this year: 207,000 Peak Viewers and 169,988 Average Viewers.
Naturally, the Playoffs Grand Finals are literally miles away; but the idea of being able to predict a possible statistic is definitely insightful. As I’ll reiterate, viewership always upscales during main events over the regular season.
Working Their Way Up The Esports Tier List?
Credits: Overwatch League
Earlier this month, we churned out our quarterly tier list. Unfortunately, yet with due reason, we had to demote Overwatch down a tier due to lacklustre results as of late. However, should this pace be kept up, I look forward to promoting the scene further up.
With the season only just starting, the sky is the limit for this season.
