Pro Overwatch teams seek legal combat vs activity over money

The Overwatch League, an officially sponsored sporting event, is struggling with the decline viewership and problems with sponsors following the ongoing Activision Blizzard workplace culture scandal. Based on a report by Jacob Wolf, the Activision Blizzard teams playing the game for live audiences appear to be taking legal action against the studio after years of high costs and little reward.

The report says the “majority” of Overwatch League teams are working with a UK law firm for a collective bargaining process against organizers “after years of high operating costs and consistently missing revenue promises”. The British law firm in question is Sheridans, which mainly works on media and tech cases.

Wolf’s sources say the goal is for teams to receive some economic relief to “promote sustainability” after each team has raised between $7.5 million and $10 million since the Overwatch League’s inception six years ago Has issued franchise payments. This is on top of the $1 million in operating costs. According to the report, some teams have spent more than $16 million on Overwatch League expenses over the years.

The 12 franchises that joined the Overwatch League in Season 1 have each pledged to pay 20 million dollars with the expectation that over time they would be paid in prizes rising up to somewhere between $27 and $35 million by season two.

The Overwatch League grand finals have begun over 1.5 million viewers last year, but this was also the highlight for a season that was largely in decline in viewership, like the Overwatch League has over the years.

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The league is then in a transitional state surveillance 2Last year’s launch rocked the game, removing two players from each game, causing unrest within teams as some have feared can lead to downsizing down the line. The league played surveillance 2 longer than the public as Blizzard gave teams an early build so the event could make an early transition to the sequell instead of playing an old game that Blizzard would no longer support by the end of 2022.

We’ve reached out to Blizzard for comment on this story and will update as soon as we receive feedback.

While the Overwatch League has its own problems, surveillance 2 has been struggling with its own issues since the start of Early Access in October. Since the sequel switched the game’s business model to free-to-play, the game’s expensive microtransactions and Battle Pass Grind were a point of contention for many players. This is on top of lackluster events, which are Warming up old cosmetics that were available for freeat one point, but now with a hefty real price tag.