Are All These Overwatch Teams Disbanding a Good Thing?

In recent months as news of the Overwatch League continues to grow we have seen a drop off in the number of pro teams willing to compete in Overwatch. This leaves a number of top players around the world open. So, what is the cause and effect of this type of event? Well, let’s try to break it down and see what we can come up with.

The Good

Not all professional esports teams can meet the reported $20 million buy into the Overwatch League that remains rumored. So, this leaves a huge pool of players that are going to suddenly be looking for teams to play on. Some pro players are moving to other games as is the case with Team Liquid this week with players jumping into Quake Champions, however, the pool for top Overwatch talent now continues to grow as teams shut down.

This is great for the league as players will be able to negotiate which teams they can try and go to and get signed. Depending on how big the league becomes, well, some players may not make the cut. It is still a good thing to see the player pool grow. As much as we don’t want to see these teams disband, it does open up the players for new options.

The Bad

With the Overwatch League coming into play, is Blizzard taking a lot of flak from the esports industry they helped build? So with all of these teams disbanding, is this an exodus out of the Overwatch industry from its core audience? Many of these teams have been in esports for a long time.

This could create a huge divide within the hardcore audience. So teams that have been around for a while are either not willing or able to make the leap into the big league may breed resentment among fans. There has been a lot of media predicting the failure of the league itself. We don’t believe in that at all as too many top people are involved to see this league just go to waste. Plus, we do run a site covering the league.

The In Between

The only disturbing part of the Team Liquid disband is they are looking to sell their Contenders spot. This means that they are stepping away completely. Other teams had disbanded before this happened with Evil Geniuses and Hammer just dropping out last month.

So, as the League builds up behind the scenes, the effects can be seen across the esports world. Time will tell how these teams take shape as we are in week two of the player signing window and no one has really announced anything. It is fun to watch and speculate which players from the contenders league and the World Cup might be picked up after the performance of so many good teams this past weekend.

With Group G and H competing this weekend in L.A. we finally get to see the U.S. and European teams in action. Who are the players to watch?

-Mash

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