First major global professional city-based
league opens new era in eSports
Overwatch League to be broadcast on Twitch, in
addition to OverwatchLeague.com, MLG.com, the MLG app, and the new
Overwatch League companion app
The inaugural season of the Overwatch League™ kicks off today,
beginning an epic showdown between teams from some of the world’s
top sports and esports leaders—and the best Overwatch players on
the planet.
As the first major global professional esports league with
competition organized by cities, the launch of the Overwatch League
is one of the most hotly anticipated moments in esports. For the
first season, 12 franchises are representing major cities in Asia,
Europe, and North America. The full list of teams and owners
is:
- Boston Uprising (Kraft Group)
- Dallas Fuel (Team Envy)
- Florida Mayhem (Misfits)
- Houston Outlaws (OpTic Gaming)
- London Spitfire (Cloud9)
- Los Angeles Gladiators (Stan and Josh
Kroenke)
- Los Angeles Valiant (Immortals)
- New York Excelsior (Jeff Wilpon and
SterlingVC)
- Philadelphia Fusion (Comcast
Spectacor)
- San Francisco Shock (NRG eSports)
- Seoul Dynasty (Kevin Chou)
- Shanghai Dragons (NetEase)
The teams met in combat for the first time during the preseason,
December 6–9. The first regular-season games will be played later
today, with the Pacific Division teams facing off: San Francisco
Shock vs. Los Angeles Valiant, Shanghai Dragons vs. Los Angeles
Gladiators, and Dallas Fuel vs. Seoul Dynasty. The Atlantic
Division teams take the stage at the Blizzard Arena Los Angeles on
Thursday.
"Connecting and engaging the world through epic entertainment is
our mission,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “The
launch of the Overwatch League will provide our very best
professional players the chance to inspire our engaged, connected
audiences around the world. January 10th is an historic day for
esports and we are so grateful to our team owners, our media
partners, our sponsors, and most of all our players for their
pivotal role in the establishment of the Overwatch League.”
“The Overwatch League was created to deliver an awesome and
unique experience for players, teams, and fans,” said Mike
Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “With 12
first-class teams representing major cities from Asia, Europe, and
North America, we’re confident that the inaugural season of the
league is going to redefine what people expect from esports—and be
a giant celebration of the Overwatch® community as a whole.”
Viewers can tune in to catch all the action on Twitch, MLG.com
and the MLG app (on iOS and Android), OverwatchLeague.com, and the
Overwatch League companion app, which launched Monday for iOS and
Android. Blizzard players also will be given easy access to the
Overwatch League’s web presence via a new Overwatch League tab in
the Blizzard Battle.net Desktop App.
ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV are expected to be the
official broadcasting platforms of the Overwatch League in China,
providing livestreams, VODs, feature programs, and other exciting
esports content to Chinese audiences.
The first season of the Overwatch League will run until June,
with playoffs and finals scheduled for July. For the inaugural
season, all games will take place at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, a
state-of-the-art live-event venue in Burbank, California,
custom-renovated for Blizzard Entertainment esports events. Fans
can purchase tickets to attend matches, which will be played each
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. A full schedule and
information about ticket sales can be found at
https://overwatchleague.com/.
The Overwatch community also will have new ways to join in the
fun around the league. Overwatch League team uniforms are now
available to purchase as in-game skins, giving fans a fun way to
show their support for their favorite teams. All players who log in
between now and February 13, 2018, will receive enough League
Tokens to obtain a team uniform of their choice free. Skins are
available for all 12 teams, and all 26 Overwatch characters, with
50% of the revenue from every Overwatch League skin sold going
toward a shared revenue pool for all league teams.
The Overwatch League is supported by sponsors HP® and
Intel®, with players competing on cutting-edge gaming hardware
including HP’s OMEN gaming PCs, powered by the latest Intel® Core™
i7 processors.
About the Overwatch League™
The Overwatch League™ is the first major global professional
esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North
America. Overwatch® was created by globally acclaimed publisher
Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Activision Blizzard—Nasdaq:
ATVI), whose iconic franchises have helped lay the foundations and
push the boundaries of professional esports over the last 15 years.
The latest addition to Blizzard’s stable of twenty-one #1 games,[1]
Overwatch was built from the ground up for online competition, with
memorable characters and fast-paced action designed for the most
engaging gameplay and spectator experiences. To learn more about
the Overwatch League, visit www.overwatchleague.com.
© 2018 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. OVERWATCH, OVERWATCH LEAGUE,
BLIZZARD and BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT are trademarks of Blizzard
Entertainment, Inc.
[1] Sales and/or downloads, based on internal company records
and reports from key distribution partners
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking
Statements: Information in this press release that involves
Blizzard Entertainment's expectations, plans, intentions or
strategies regarding the future, including statements about the
dates, events and features of the Overwatch League, are
forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number
of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard
Entertainment's actual future results to differ materially from
those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this
release include unanticipated product delays and other factors
identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s
most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this
release are based upon information available to Blizzard
Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this
release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard
assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when
made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not
guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or
Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause
actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
Source: Overwatch League
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180110005414/en/
Overwatch LeagueMark Van Lommel, 949-955-1380
x61147MVanLommel@overwatchleague.com
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