The end of the Overwatch League’s season one happened last month, with London Spitfire coming out on top. We all got to know some amazing teams and players. However, The Overwatch League is expanding again. Last month, franchises representing Atlanta and Guangzhou joined the Overwatch League, and now six more new teams were just announced including Chengdu, Hangzhou, Paris, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C. They will be entered in to compete for the 2019 Overwatch League championship. With a roster of 20 total teams—nine of them outside of the United States—the Overwatch League has further strengthened its position as the “premier global city-based esports league.” The ownership groups for the new franchises are: Aquilini Group — A diversified family business that owns the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena, and manages a global conglomerate portfolio will operate the team in Vancouver, Canada Bilibili — A leading online entertainment company for young people in China, covering a wide array of genres and media formats including videos, live broadcasting, and mobile games will operate the team in Hangzhou, China DM Esports — A global company focused on esports entertainment and investments will operate the team in Paris, France HUYA Inc. — A leading game live streaming platform in China will operate the team in Chengdu, China OverActive Media — An integrated company delivering esports and video game entertainment to the Canadian market will operate the team in Toronto, Canada Washington Esports Ventures — A sports organization founded by Mark Ein, owner of the Washington Kastles of World Team Tennis, to build and promote esports enterprises will operate the team in Washington, D.C. “The Overwatch League’s inaugural season was a great success,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “This past season alone, fans spent 160 million hours watching the leading Overwatch players in the world compete. We are thrilled to add eight new outstanding team owners from Europe, China, and North America to our Overwatch League ownership group. We now have 20 of the very best owners in professional sports.” Not much is known yet about who will be added to the teams and further details about official team names, marks, and “rosters will be announced soon by each franchise in conjunction with the Overwatch League.” Information about the 2019 season schedule will be released at a later date as well. Stay Tuned to Gaming Access Weekly for more updates and for all your gaming needs.
