Posted in : Blizzard , eSports , Games , Interview , Overwatch 2,Video Games| Tagged : overwatch , Overwatch Champions Series , Overwatch League
We got to chat with two of the heads of Overwatch Esports at Blizzard about the inagural season of the Overwatch Champions Series
Article Summary
Overwatchhas break through a lot over the past couple of years . The move toOverwatch 2 , change to a Seasonal system , and the inflow of so many young characters . However , one of the liberal changes was the closure of theOverwatchLeague and the move to work with the ESL to move the newOverwatchChampions Series . The initiatory time of year have place in 2024 , bringing with it several changes to the way things had been done in the League , admit kicking get to the doors for professional esports squad around the globe to compete and take part in major events such as DreamHack . Coming off the World Finals held in Stockholm last calendar month , we got a chance to chat with Director & Head ofOverwatch EsportsSean Millerand Senior Product ManagerBailey McCannabout this season and the challenge they faced as we look toward 2025 .
BC : Hey Sean and Bailey ! First off , how are the two of you doing ?
Sean : Hello ! I ’m great , thanks . I recently returned from our trip to Sweden for the OWCS 2024 World Finals and spending Thanksgiving with my family . Now , we ’re focussed on getting ready for the 2025 season and we ’re exceedingly stoked to kick it off for our fans .
Pearl Bailey : Thanks for asking ! I ’m doing great . Just got back from Sweden for the OWCS World Finals – which was an downright flack . Then I had some time with the family back home for Thanksgiving , too . Now it ’s full speed in advance , fuck off quick for 2025 ! Really looking forward to bring the next season off the flat coat .
How has it been for each of you working with Blizzard in their esports division ?
Sean : It ’s been a wild drive . I actually get down off at Blizzard as an intern , so needless to say , a muckle has happened in my sentence here , and it ’s been very gratifying to collaborate onOverwatchEsports with the awesome hoi polloi I get to work with . And now we are at the point with our esport where it feels like things are firing on all cylinders and heading in the accurate direction they should be going in .
Nathan Bailey : Being at Blizzard has been great for so many reasons . in person , Blizzard holds a special office in my heart – I got my first PC to playStarCraft , and I used to contend inOverwatchfrom the first year it came out , so it ’s a morsel of a dream descend straight to help work on on the esport that ignited such a passion in esports for me ! I finger really invest to leverage my own experience as a rival and avail make the experience for our current players even better than before .
Getting veracious to it , what were your initial thoughts on the closure of the originalOverwatchLeague ?
Sean : In the year since we began theOverwatchLeague , the esports landscape has reposition quite a mo . What we memorize over time was that structurally , OWL was n’t capable to support our vision for what we wantedOverwatchEsports to be – it got less open to the wide instrumentalist base the closer you got to the top . Now , with OWCS , the total social organization is open to everyone , so it delivers on the original finish ofOverwatchEsports : no matter who you are , you have a path to reach the highest levels if you ’re good enough at the game .
What was that menstruation like between OWL run away and OWCS set forth up ?
Sean : We made the decision in coaction with our franchise partners to pivot man from OWL to OWCS in Fall 2023 , and from there we put together the OWCS program over the next 3 - 4 month or so . It was a major priority to make trusted that we did n’t leave our fans without a marquee esports program for too long .
What was the process like in link forces with ESL FACEIT Group and starting up the newOverwatchChampions Series ?
Bailey : It helps a lot that we ’re ferment with a global pardner who has empower a great bargain intoOverwatch , and esports more generally , across their business . form with EFG , we ’ve now integrate FACEIT , which is their private-enterprise gaming platform , intoOverwatchitself . That in - game integration with FACEIT is the well-heeled and most accessible tool we ’ve ever used for match assignment and reporting , and it ’s a very helpful resource for our players . Also , we just announced that set forth in 2025 , FACEIT League will serve as the qualifier for OWCS via a raw promotion and relegation system . We ’re expect this to acquire some with child plot line and high - wager moments , and ensure that our top up - and - descend talent has an chance to make it to the big microscope stage – creating a cohesive esports ecosystem that offers contest to folks of all acquisition stage .
What was the reaction of players and faculty to having established esports team competing as oppose to having conference - specific teams ?
Bailey : OverwatchLeague squad brands carry a particular place in many citizenry ’s hearts – myself let in as a D.C. native . With the move to OWCS , our fans have been receptive to endemic esports organizations getting involved inOverwatchEsports straight . Not only does that enable fan - favorite organizations from other esports to easily establish a presence in our ecosystem , but it also paved the fashion for the Team Partner Program we just announce for 2025 . Through this , we ’re able to support up to nine OWCS teams across North America , EMEA , and Asia . It ’s a marvellous tool to help support our most dedicated players and teams , where rooter can also get involve with their favorite Partner Teams by purchase in - plot cosmetics feature their stigmatization , and Partner Teams will invite a portion of the proceeds .
Was it easy to get people on board with the raw arrangement and have EFG involved ? Or did it feel like an rising climbing starting over from scratch ?
Sean : It did n’t feel like start over from scratch in the sense that the process of putting OWCS together drew on thoughts and estimate that we ’ve been considering and discuss for the past decade or so – thing we ’ve learned from fly the coop our esports programs and watch other publisher ' programs . EFG was also a product pardner forOverwatchLeague and has a ton of esports output experience , which gave us confidence that our rooter would be able to have the degree of programing they ’re customary to .
I was in DreamHack Dallas and see the overpowering sports fan reactions to having games people could attend in person . How important is it now to step away from LAN effect and get back to in - person play ?
Bailey : The free energy at the live upshot is something really special that you have to just experience yourself to understand . Once you ’re in the arena , with the gang , the endowment , and the liberal cover showcasing some awesomeOverwatch – it will just completely capture you . Events like World Finals are an authoritative part of how our esports offering maintainOverwatch ’s gist audience and build a al-Qaeda of foresighted - term fans . And not even justOverwatchfans – bringing OWCS to festival like DreamHack facilitate to integrateOverwatchinto the heavy esports community , offering more ways than ever before to get involved with things such as music , cosplay , and other activities that we know a ton of both our casual and hardcore fans do it .
Do you counter a point where OWCS could swing back to being mostly in - person like how it was with the Blizzard Arena , kind of like how a tidy sum ofCounter - Strike 2events are confine ?
Bailey : Having a substantive portion of competition online is actually an important part of the unconscious process , in that it allows us to give up OWCS to everyone , anywhere , and it enables us to just host more competitiveOverwatch . It would n’t be realistic to adapt 100 and hundreds of squad at an in - someone venue , and it ’s important to us that we ’re creating more opportunities for as many participant and fan as potential .
You just enclose up DreamHack Stockholm . What are your thoughts on everything as you close out Year One ?
Sean : To me , DreamHack Stockholm was the culmination of proving out a year - recollective experiment of an open ecosystem and makingOverwatchEsports more accessible , and that this experiment is working with flying colors!The result itself was fantastic , being able to have the evolution team case Hazard was immense , and watching the orchestra there play our new OWCS composition song decent before Grand Finals was a really herculean experience for me , and I ’m sure for many others . The passion from fan that you saw in Dallas was there in Stockholm too , and it was a great fashion to shut down out our maiden season and set the stage for the next one .
What are some of the big object lesson you hear this twelvemonth , and what steps will you be accept to better from this season ?
Bailey : Esports can be a morsel daunting to a cursory devotee or role player of a game , and because of that we knew we need to make OWCS easier to just jump into so you could watch some good gameplay . To that end , we ’ve streamlined our 2025 season format across regions , created a longer season with another unrecorded event to create even more cool computer storage for our fan , and got every exclusive game in NA and EMEA propagate so our fan wo n’t miss a exclusive moment of the action and can relate with our top player well than ever before . Also , to piggyback on what Sean just said , that was another significant erudition for us : the events are invaluable touchpoints with devotee , and we know we want to do even more of them next year . These live event are magic and we acknowledge how special they are to our participant . We ’re so stoked to bestow another live consequence so we can serve as many of our fans as potential .
What can we look forwards to in 2025 when the competition returns ?
Sean : There ’s a ton to look forward to ! The three live events , the novel packaging and relegation arrangement , the Team Partner Program , and another time of year of high - levelOverwatchcompetition for everyone to enjoy . And fans wo n’t have to wait much longer ; we want to foreshorten our offseason and get back into the action as soon as potential , which is why we ’re coming back in January . Hope you ’ll bring together us !
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