Overwatch League Chinese Homestands Moved to Korea
The coronavirus outbreak heavily affected not just esports but the world. After Blizzard decided to postpone a good chunk of their upcoming schedule due to player safety, many wondered how they would solve the problem in the long term. After a lot of speculation, the venerable developer behind Overwatch decided to move all Overwatch League Chinese homestands over to Korea.
From China to Korea
The five homestands previously scheduled on Chinese soil will now take place in a studio in Seoul, South Korea. These matches will take place for multiple days during weeks six and seven of the current schedule. Furthermore, a couple of these “makeup matches” will get added to the Seoul Dynasty homestand, set for week five. Specific match-related times and details will get revealed later.
On the one hand, it’s nice to see that all these matches will still take place in a reasonable time frame. On the other hand, it’s a shame that Chinese fans won’t have the opportunity to cheer for their teams and players in big venues.
Blizzard found a lot of success with these Overwatch League Chinese homestands and the entire localized, city-based model. Not seeing China participate is a big blow (especially revenue-wise). They have some of the best, loudest, and most loyal fans and their homestands would’ve surely been action-packed.
Still, it feels like Blizzard is making the best out of a bad situation. We can only hope that this change doesn’t heavily affect the players and the entire viewing experience. It is an unfortunate complication (especially given how important this third season is to Blizzard). Still, it seems like everything is being taken care of in a positive, timely manner.
In the meantime, make sure to tune in to the Overwatch League exclusively on YouTube Gaming. It’s fair to say that we’ve seen some of the best, most exciting Overwatch yet. With role lock in place (along with a healthy meta), players are finally able to showcase their immense talent.
We can only expect things to improve even further once hero pools come into play.
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