It is no secret that eSports are growing at a rapid pace and that scenes are growing for basically all major games. One of these is Overwatch, a popular shooter similar to Team Fortress 2 by Valve, but made by Blizzard instead. It has a decent sized pro scene, and we will be doing another segment of our weekly news series for the recent things that have happened in the OW side of eSports. Your time is valuable, so without further ado, let us get started!
College Battle
College rivalries are usually associated with studies, or maybe football. However, two old and well respected colleges are going head to head in Overwatch this week! Cambridge and Oxford, two English universities that are both old and coveted, will fight each other for dominance, with varsity OW teams. Make sure to check out Twitch to watch that match if you are interested!
Asian Games 2022
Along with Dota 2, Overwatch will be featured in the 2022 Asian Games. This is a huge achievement for electronic sports as a whole, and for OW a relatively young eSport as well. Be sure to watch the Asian Games in 2022, and in the meanwhile, this news will draw added attention to competitive gaming. This is a big deal in the future of Overwatch!
EnVyUs Squad
With the Korean OGN Apex Season three around the corner, EnVyUs posted their rosters just on time for the deadline. They will trial two new DPS, in the forms of Lui and Effect. This new squad is full of talent, and it will be fun to watch them perform at the most premier tourney in Korea.
HOTS Rewards
There is a new crossover between eSports, and you can win cosmetic items for Overwatch in the popular MOBA game Heroes of the Storm. Blizzard is the maker of both these games, and they love mixing the two franchises, which are both popular eSports on their own. The event is called The Nexus Challenge 2.0, and should definitely catch the eye of owners of both titles. It will span across four weeks, with different rewards available each week. Simply hop onto a Heroes of the Storm game with a friend each week, and enjoy your exclusive rewards! The best loot includes Genji related swag, Officer D.Va items, and loot boxes. Be sure to find a friend and play some Heroes of the Storm!
New maps
Some new maps are in the works for 2017, according to Jeff Kaplan, a trusted source in the OW community. For those who think the developer team is getting lazy, do not worry, as three new maps are to be released soon.
World Cup
The first phase of the 2017 Overwatch World Cup has concluded, with China and Korea headlining the participants. They are the favorites, and many expect a China vs Korea final.
Roster Moves
Some major roster moves were made as well. Fnatic benched Vonethil and Hafficool on the back of some very unimpressive results. Hopefully, this change can improve their roster and make them more competitive! OGN Apex has allowed eight players to be on the team, and Lunatic Hai was the first organization to take full advantage of this, by adding two new players. These new talents are Claris and Munchkin, and are sure to impact sometime in the near future. However, in a major twist, LH was forced to release the players due to some prior conflict with existing team members.
Laser Kittenz picked the two guys up right away, however, so they weren’t in flux for too long. Talking about the Laser Kittenz, they recently lost a free agent that they had all but signed up. Internethulk, who was recently kicked out of EnVyUs by a democratic vote, went back on his original announcement of signing with Laser Kittenz to instead join Rogue, the main EnVyUs rivals. He will be joining as a coach to the French squad and will join them for the third season of Apex in South Korea. He expressed frustration at being kicked out of the team he helped found and said that he signed with Rogue to get revenge.
Evil Geniuses
If you follow eSports other than Overwatch, it is very likely that you have heard of the organization Evil Geniuses. This famous Dota 2 crew created history by winning The International, which featured the biggest eSport prize pool ever at the time. They are still considered a top ten team in the Dota 2 pro scene as well. Founded before the twenty-first millennium, they are one of the oldest eSports organizations that are still successful. Now, this revolutionary group is making its move into Overwatch. They recently signed East Wind’s roster, which features many competitive North American OW players. Behind their Mexican tank Dcap, the new Evil Geniuses team looks to make some major waves in the scene!
Thanks for reading my article and sticking around till the end. I hope you enjoyed this weekly news series and were well informed by it as well.
Be sure to look out for future weekly news articles, and I will see you next time! Good luck!
