In a super-long interview with Lex Fridman on a recent episode of his podcast, former Overwatch boss Jeff Kaplan discussed his career in gaming, including his time leading the Overwatch team. This included the failed Overwatch League, one of the saddest moments in esports history.
The Overwatch League was a shining time in the esports industry for me. I was drawn into the entire production and structure, especially the idea of city-based teams, each with distinct styles and iconic players, that was built up during the broadcast and in personality-focused social media content. It fostered team spirit and quirky on-stream moments more than many esports scenes at the time. Although we’ll never forgive the OWL for making a crying Ryujehong into a meme on air.
Unfortunately, the Overwatch League only lasted six seasons, spanning from 2018 to 2023. During that time, viewership was rapidly declining, and the franchise structure was losing its meaning due to COVID travel restrictions and teams signing players from countries far from the cities they represented.
According to Jeff Kaplan in his chat with Fridman, the team “believed” in the Overwatch League’s original vision. But it “ultimately derailed” the game’s development. I don’t really remember it that way.
Blizzard Made a Lot of Mistakes With the Overwatch League
I don’t believe for a second that Blizzard decided to end the Overwatch League so they could focus on the game. I think they ended the OWL because it was failing. And it was failing due to their decisions.
One of the first major mistakes was switching from Twitch to YouTube to stream the matches as part of a partnership with the video platform. At the time, Twitch was the biggest platform for esports, offering the best viewing experience and most engagement with other fans. Viewership was also never going to reach that of a game like League of Legends; the action was far too confusing to follow, and fewer people were playing, meaning fewer understood or cared about it.
Meanwhile, esports organizations had large pay-ins to join the franchise and were growing frustrated when they saw no return on that investment. Blizzard had plans to create a self-sustaining business with sponsorships, tickets, merch, and other sports-inspired concepts, according to a former Blizzard employee. But the OWL never became profitable.
With the Overwatch League getting fewer and fewer viewers – and not retaining them – the structure was not working. Nobody wants to invest in something with no fans. Nobody wants to pay to have their logo on a broadcast nobody is watching.
The involved esports organizations began demanding a refund as they lost money and Blizzard didn’t uphold its end of the deal. Multiple teams took action against Blizzard, leading Blizzard to offer $6 million to teams to terminate their franchise agreements if there were no objections.
It was a massive mistake by Blizzard, which is why I’m quite disturbed to hear they’ are thinking of some’re considering a stupid mobile esports scene for Overwatch Rush. Wasn’t killing Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone’s esports scenes enough?
While the Overwatch Championship Series (OWCS) is nowhere near as hyped as the Overwatch League, I still hope something cool happens someday now that someone else is running the scene. It’s just gonna be tough without the same iconic players and passionate community that were there back in the OWL days.