Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch League franchise competition faced a downfall last year due to pandemic-related challenges and economic issues among teams, curtailing its initial aspirations. However, a new competitive Overwatch league centered around the upcoming game Overwatch 2 is now emerging, albeit with a stance against cryptocurrencies.
Recently unveiled, the Overwatch Champions Series introduces a more inclusive competitive format under the supervision of ESL FACEIT Group, a renowned esports tournament organizer. In its official rulebook released last week, the league imposes limitations on team sponsorships.
Notably, teams participating in this new Overwatch esports league are prohibited from having sponsors linked to “cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchanges,” as well as NFTs and “artificial intelligence/machine learning.” These restrictions were highlighted by James Fudge, editor at The Esports Advocate.
Despite attempts to seek comments from Blizzard Entertainment and ESL FACEIT representatives, there has been no response at the time of writing, as confirmed by _Decrypt_’s GG.
In recent years, the esports and cryptocurrency sectors have seen significant overlap, with crypto companies providing substantial sponsorships to teams and leagues. One prominent example is FTX, which secured a \(210 million naming rights deal with Team SoloMid (TSM) for a decade. FTX also entered a seven-year sponsorship agreement worth nearly \)100 million with Riot Games for the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) in the U.S.
However, with the decline of FTX in late 2022, such lucrative partnerships have become less frequent. This trend could be attributed to the reduced availability of crypto funding in a persistently bearish market in 2023, coupled with potential caution from esports entities amidst the financial challenges prevalent in the gaming sector.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
