eSports News by Content Engine AI

On Wednesday, the Overwatch League will begin its twenty-first season at BlizzCon 2018. The new season of the professional esports league has been well-documented.

Overwatch League owner Activision Blizzard has been tying up with multiple television networks to deal with coverage for the league. A deal has been confirmed with Sky Sports for England and Fox in Europe. The league has also recently announced that ESPN and Turner will be streaming some games on their networks.

Let’s not forget that Justin “PewDiePie” Zhuugerakus sold out at a record price of $8.3 million USD.

To celebrate Blizzard Entertainment’s showcase at BlizzCon 2018, Nintendo teamed up with the Overwatch League to drop a Nintendo Switch commercial. Nintendo released the game as a separate piece of DLC earlier this year in late April.

Last week, Overwatch League mascot Winston was featured in a new advertisement. This latest spot was not in the spirit of unity and charity. Rather, it was a blatant shot at Blizzard’s upcoming game, Diablo III: Eternal Collection.

In the video, an egomaniacal Winston talks about beating the season with Overwatch League’s championship while awaiting the release of Diablo III: Eternal Collection. This is, in no way, meant to be a compliment.

Activision Blizzard and Blizzard Entertainment may possibly be at odds with each other over the matter, but the Overwatch League has not been hiding itself from the highly anticipated Diablo III release. Blizzard Entertainment has already launched the gameplay trailer for Diablo III: Eternal Collection, so it’s safe to say that the very existence of the game has been mocked in every way possible by Overwatch League players and staff members.

For gamers that are watching the Overwatch League as well as Diablo III: Eternal Collection, I have an incredibly surprising message for you.

You aren’t watching this while you are playing Overwatch League, so don’t take any potential jokes that have been made as an insult. There’s no shame in that.

The reason I’m sharing this is because Overwatch League players and Overwatch League staff know that these jokes have been going on for a long time. This should come as no surprise. What is surprising is that Blizzard Entertainment has been so quiet about the complaint and isn’t fighting against the jokes in any way.

Eternal Collection’s release date is January 29, and if you want to play it now, the PC version is a little on the low-end at this point. So you’ll have to pick up one of the less expensive bundles to play the game.

At the moment, Blizzard isn’t concerned with playing the role of Puffing Billy by publicly banning gamers or kicking them off of their platform. Even if that were to happen, there would be no acknowledgment of the problem.

Instead, Blizzard will likely tout that Quake’s regular player switching model is effective in esports.

The reason for this is, they are aping a Hearthstone model, while (correctly) calling out Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III: Eternal Collection out as an influence.

They also use the quote “I just needed a break from playing with Diablo III,” as the reason why they are doing it. Given the fact that the situation is fairly uncomfortable, it’s a fine line that Blizzard needs to tread.

While it is a weird time in the beginning of the Overwatch League, I believe there is a bright future for it. Most of the debate surrounding the new season is focused on the League in comparison to Blizzard Entertainment’s other first-person shooters.

The eSports scene is so young and diverse. It has made strides toward breaking down barriers. This is no time to tiptoe or run for the hills. Blizzard Entertainment’s opening months in the Overwatch League’s career are transitional moments. And it will be interesting to see what’s next.

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