Can the Overwatch League getting outsourced be a good thing?

Here we are, talking about a Blizzard game once again, and this time, it is Overwatch. You might be wondering, what have they done this time to ruin the game, and what kind of scandal is occurring inside the company? Well, surprisingly, this could be a good thing, as OWL is potentially getting outsourced to a third party.

© Overwatch League

Why would outsourcing be good for OWL?

As we all know, Blizzard has been doing a horrible job when it comes to esports. All of the games that they tried handling from the esports perspective had a huge flop, and in some instances, they got canceled entirely without even warning the players about it (we are looking at you, Heroes of the Storm).

The only real esports that has been doing well for Blizzard is Hearthstone, and this game is also outsourced to ESL, and it has been since its 2021 season, which is when it started gaining popularity it has lost over the years.

Outsourcing OWL might just be a good thing because when we look at CDL, which Esports Engine operates this season, it seems to have a decent roadmap and is doing an excellent job for the game. On the other note, we all know that Microsoft has acquired Activision/Blizzard with a massive buyout, and outsourcing esports to third parties is part of their strategy. Halo esports is also outsourced to Esports Engine.

In the long term, it might be the best bet to handover all operations to third-party organizers and be done trying to manage their own esports.

The real issue is Overwatch 2

The main reason why OWL was losing popularity and why it eventually came to the point where it is going to be outsourced to a third party, is because the development of Overwatch 2 has been in a chaotic state. Not only that the game was expected to release a while ago, but as more footage of the game came out, players have been disappointed because it feels more like a big patch than a whole new game.

To make the matter worse, players within OWL have been complaining that many of them do not actually have access to Overwatch 2 beta, which is the current League’s game. This seems quite unbelievable, but not a complete surprise since we are talking about Blizzard, after all.

Luckily, with the recent Battle.net update, there seems to be some info about Overwatch 2 beta coming in the near future, not only for professional players but for everyone. Of course, this leak in the code might just be a mistake from the developers, but let us hope that is not the case.

With so many games in early access on Steam, we are pretty sure that people would not mind beta testing the game, even if it takes a year. Just give the community some sign of life, something that can make them see that the game’s development has not gone downhill and that there is still a chance for their favorite game to rise in the esports scene.