This time next week, we’ll be in Manhattan for SBJ’s Esports Rising conference. Hunter Cooke, Kevin Hitt and I hope to see you there for the debut of our Esports Rising Awards. Come say hello if you’re attending, and it isn’t too late to grab a spot at the event. — Jason Wilson
After a three-year wait, Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch 2 launched this week. The free-to-play, team-based multiplayer first-person hero shooter was announced at BlizzCon in 2019, and the Overwatch League wants to use the new title to reinvigorate a competitive esport that has seen viewership and player numbers wane. Although the OWL has been playing the beta version in its current season, fans are just now getting exposed to the game (if they can get past the login queues and other online issues that come with a game’s launch).
“With free-to-play, the game is more accessible than it has ever been and it’s thrilling to think that the next generation of esports talent has already begun their journey to the Overwatch League,” Sean Miller, head of the OWL, told SBJ. “This season, we’ve had an incredible influx of rookies, which highlights how our competitive ecosystem — including Contenders, Open Division, Collegiate, and now Calling All Heroes –is designed to welcome and showcase new and exciting talent. This week’s launch is only the beginning of the evolution of the Overwatch esports ecosystem.”
OWL’s viewership has steadily declined since 2021, according to Esports Charts. The May Melee tournament in 2021 peaked at 113,467 viewers, averaging 69,100. Last month’s Summer Showdown peaked at 51,998, averaging just around 28,700.
While Overwatch 2 should give the league a boost, it’s not a slam dunk that the OWL can rebuild relationships with fans or convert everyday players into viewers. The league has yet to announce its media partner going into 2023, as its $160 million deal with YouTube will be up after the OWL Championship in November. Couple that with the pending Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard and rumors of the league spinning off into its own business entity and there remain plenty of questions marks for the league. — Kevin Hitt
As Overwatch 2 released, viewership once again surged on Twitch this week. Old pro players like Felix “xQc” Lengyel streamed the sequel Tuesday to an average of 99,137 viewers over 10+ hours, according to Twitch statistics website SullyGnome. Fan-favorite Brandon “Seagull” Larned notched his highest viewership in a month following the launch.
Twitch statistics aren’t the end-all, be-all for game health, but without public player numbers, these are the most visible metrics available — and Overwatch 2 boomed on launch day, with a peak viewership of over 625,000 checking out the new game.
On the TV side, Activision Blizzard even splurged for Overwatch 2 ads during the expensive TV real estate around “Monday Night Football” this week. The estimated cost for the 15-second spot, which aired across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 (which carried the ManningCast), totaled over $535,000, per data from iSpot.tv.
Overwatch 2 has a long way to go, with several fractured relationships to rebuild. Activision Blizzard’s deal to move to YouTube likely hurt Overwatch League’s discoverability, and a lack of updates in favor of OW2’s development left players frustrated and bored.
There’s still no clear indication whether Overwatch’s streaming numbers solidify to its solid post-launch numbers, and what effect a rejuvenated Overwatch community will have on a waning OWL. — Hunter Cooke
This viewership spike captures Overwatch 2’s launch.
SullyGnome
Overwatch 2’s launch suffered from a double whammy of troubles when the servers opened for business Tuesday: Massive player interest led to equally massive login queues and a cyberattack.
Blizzard Entertainment President Mike Ybarra tweeted that the company was dealing with a Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that was disrupting servers (these stopped after Tuesday’s launch). “Server issues” and “launch day” predictably go together in gaming, so plenty of players knew to expect disruptions and wait times.
Another issue plaguing Overwatch 2’s launch was the use of Blizzard’s SMS Protect feature, which requires a mobile phone number to prevent cheaters and stop hackers from taking over player accounts. But since Tuesday’s launch, those using prepaid cellular accounts can’t use those mobile numbers to play (it’s part of the SMS Protect protocol). A Blizzard spokesperson said that the company is “actively engaging with some service providers to explore if we can expand the program to cover more users while still protecting our players and game security.”
Late Wednesday, Blizzard said an update it plans to roll out Friday will change SMS Protect so that any player who has logged into Overwatch since June 2021 can play without a phone number requirement (anyone who hasn’t played Overwatch since that time will need to use a phone number. It’s also rolling out updates to improve online stability and long login queues. Players have also been reporting missing items and other data, and Blizzard said half of these issues are because players didn’t merge their accounts. For the rest, Blizzard said no data has been wiped or lost and it is working to restore missing items.
These are all temporary issues, and in a couple of weeks, players will likely be playing Overwatch 2 with few queuing and stability woes. This is why it’s so important to not evaluate or review an online game based on its first week. But the big question Activision Blizzard faces today is: Will technical issues impact this weekend’s slate of OWL matches? “We don’t anticipate any issues with this weekend’s lineup of OWL matches and look forward to the great competition,” a Blizzard spokesperson said. — Jason Wilson
Blizzard’s servers have been crying “Mercy” during Overwatch 2’s launch.
Blizzard Entertainment
- Antonia Bonello has joined Evil Geniuses as its global creative director. Bonello comes from BuzzFeed.
- Shikenso Analytics named Michael Heina chief commercial officer. Heina previously worked with YouGov as director of esports and gaming for the international sector. Before that, he was at Nielson as head of esports international.
- Gen.G named Korean American singer-songwriter Jay Park as its executive music and entertainment advisor. This partnership begins with Park writing Gen.G’s entrance music for when its team competes in the League of Legends World Championship.
- TSM is partnering with Crunchyroll on its first-ever anime merchandise (think gaming gear and hoodies) as part of promotion for My Hero Academia’s sixth season. The merch debuts Friday at TwitchCon.
- Noted Fortnite streamer SypherPK (who has over 20 million followers on social and video channels) and his Metal Umbrella line is partnering with Pacsun for a limited six-piece apparel line sold in its physical stores.
- FaZe Holdings has seen a sharp decline in its stock price since going public on July 19. The Nasdaq-traded stock closed today trading at $5.44 after reaching an all-time high of $24.69 on Aug. 30. But after this week’s regulatory filings, SBJ’s Tobias Seck expects the stock price to stabilize.
- Gamurs, a gaming and esports media network, raised a $12 million Series A round co-led by Los Angeles Dodgers-backed Elysian Park Ventures and Cerro Capital, a fund focused on the future of sports.