Blizzard facing obstacles with Overwatch League

As Blizzard begins its attempt to attract new investment for its Overwatch League, it is starting to look as if the strategy it is using has many obstacles to overcome. Announced in October 2016, and confirmed in November, the plans were still broad in its scope. With this struggle, can Blizzard make its new league work?

The concept revolves around local franchise

The main concept of the league is based on creating a competition structure that is local as well as international. The franchises for the teams are sold to major cities around the world, and a specific system will determine where teams can draft their players. League action will be streamed live and include prime-time streaming for top team matches, with game highlights filling in the gaps. The league will then end the season in a global championship. Undoubtedly, if this works, the first Global Overwatch Champions are set to become legends.

Will there be a big enough player base?

However, Blizzard is facing some major risks with the execution of its concept. The first risk is the undertaking of running the whole league itself. Blizzard does not have the experience in tournament management, despite the success of the Overwatch World Cup at BlizzCon. The success of ESL is their working across more than 65 different games, with long-term partners. Their publishers believe that competition gaming helps to sell their product. While there is some risk in their execution, it is minimal. With Overwatch being a relatively new title, the player base of other games is still missing. And the initial popularity may not be enough to support a full league.

eSports has a traditionally global nature

The city-based concept may not be the best idea either, according to ESL’s Steven Roberts. “To date, city by city has not worked. Fans have come to eSports with that global nature involved,” he explained. So while the city basis may be good for local teams and to attract investors in the franchises, it may not work on the global scale. eSports is very global, and the current model has no local barriers.

Franchises are looking to be expensive

Another obstacle to overcome is the expensive franchise cost. With smaller franchises being reported to cost around 2 million dollars, major cities like Los Angeles could be as high as 15 million dollars. And then there will be management and operating costs for the team owners. With such a high initial investment, the franchise owners could be looking at a long period before any realization on their investments. And while Blizzard is saying the revenues will be locally based, with a revenue share system for league income, full details of the proposals are not yet being made public. This is an area that is critical to potential investors.

Enticement is needed to make it work

Finally, with a number of smaller Overwatch competitions opening over the past six months, the question to ask is “will the teams involved switch to Blizzard’s league?” Many big names are enthusiastic about the potential of Overwatch as a major competition game, and Blizzard will need to entice the top players to defect to its league to make it work. Blizzard is still facing a long, uphill battle, but if it is successful, the model shows real potential.