Why the Overwatch League is over
The Overwatch League is no more. Activision Blizzard is moving away from the esports league to take its competitive Overwatch 2 scene elsewhere, the company announced this week.
“We are transitioning from the Overwatch League and evolving competitive Overwatch in a new direction,” an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Polygon. “We are grateful to everyone who made OWL possible and remain focused on building our vision of a revitalized esports program. We are excited to share details with you all in the near future.”
When two Overwatch League teams — Houston Outlaws and Florida Mayhem — stepped onto the finals stage in Toronto in October, the future of Overwatch 2 esports was unclear. Activision Blizzard fired dozens of people in its esports department and announced that the future of the league was up to team ownership. Overwatch League owners were to vote to continue; if they voted no, Activision Blizzard would pay out $6 million in termination fees.
Now that the votes are in, Activision Blizzard will pay out $120 million to the 20 contracted teams. Founding Overwatch League teams paid Activision Blizzard $20 million each, according to an ESPN report from 2017. Eight expansion slots were later sold for prices up to $35 million, The Jacob Wolf Report said, adding that Activision Blizzard was owed $400 million in franchise payments from the Overwatch League and its similar Call of Duty esports league. Those outstanding fees have reportedly been waived.
Activision Blizzard is reportedly looking to run its next Overwatch 2 esports program with ESL FACEIT, Jacob Wolf reported in November. ESL FACEIT was sold to Savvy Gaming Group, backed up the Saudi Arabian government, in 2022 for $1.5 billion.
When the Overwatch League
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