Blizzard is restructuring the Overwatch eSport, which has been on the ground recently. FACEIT has been awarded the contract for Europe and North America – the developer is therefore also cooperating with Saudi Arabia
With financial support from the Middle East, Blizzard wants to save the eSport of its first-person shooter. The Overwatch League reached a low point in November 2023 due to its dissolution. There had been repeated disputes between the video game giant and the organizations involved regarding the monetary situation of the competition. Now the competitive system is being revamped and the developer and teams are saying goodbye to the franchise structure.
“Our philosophy behind the next chapter for Overwatch eSports is simple: we want to offer an ecosystem that is more open and in which everyone can participate,” reads the official press release on the upcoming changes.
The Overwatch Champions Series will be implemented. A “top league” for North America, Asia and the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Qualification for the two new major tournaments, which will take place at Dreamhack, will be geographically separated. The company FACEIT, which is part of the ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) and owned by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, is partially responsible for the organization in North America and EMEA.
Next building block for Saudi Vision 2030
Renowned investigative journalist Jacob Wolf predicted this development back in November. Saudi Arabia has been on a frontal offensive for years to become a big player in the gaming and eSports industry. In 2023, the desert state hosted the Gamers8 event with record prize money. The first Esports World Cup is set to take place in the Kingdom next summer. In the specially planned eSports city of Qiddiya.
The expansion of involvement in the aforementioned segments is in line with Saudi Vision 2030, in which many experts repeatedly accuse Saudi Arabia of (e)sportswashing. This is based on the assumption that Saudi Arabia wants to improve its image in the West by investing in sport and eSports. The country and its government are regularly criticized internationally for the human rights situation there.
Open online qualification at the start
During the Overwatch Champions Series, players and teams in the EMEA region and North America 2024 will take part in four competitive phases. Each phase consists of an open online qualifying round and the subsequent main event, in which circuit points are collected. These in turn determine participation in the international majors. In Asia, the WARA.GG platform will be in charge of regional qualification