Arriva la conferma ufficiale di Blizzard: saranno 20 le protagoniste della Lega 2019
Come avevamo accennato ieri in un precedente articolo (che troverete qui) è stato effettivamente confermato da Blizzard che le squadre partecipanti alla prossima edizione della Overwatch League saranno 20 (otto squadre in più rispetto allo scorso campionato).
Le nuove squadre sono quindi le seguenti: Vancouver, Chengdu, Parigi, Toronto, Hangzhou, Washington, Atlanta e Guangzhou che andranno a bilanciare la presenza continentale disponendo le 20 franchigie in 2 per l’Europa, 13 per il Nord America e le 5 rimanenti per l’Asia (di cui 4 dalla Cina ed una sola dalla Corea del Sud).
Di seguito riportiamo il comunicato ufficiale diramato poche ore fa da Blizzard all’interno del quale sono state anche segnate le varie realtà che si muoveranno dietro alle nuove franchigie.
Purtroppo per la nostra community l’Europa ha ricevuto l’upgrade più piccolo passando da una a solamente due squadre (grazie all’ingresso nella scena di Parigi) ma siamo sicuri che nella seconda metà del 2019, quando diverse nuove squadre faranno domanda per entrare tra le partecipanti della lega, il Vecchio Continente avrà qualche città in più da poter vantare per la stagione 2020.
The Overwatch League is expanding again!
Last month, franchises representing Atlanta and Guangzhou joined the Overwatch League, and now six more new teams—Chengdu, Hangzhou, Paris, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C.—will 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 will welcome dozens of new players as expansion teams stock up and original teams continue to shuffle their lineups.
Keep up to date on the latest roster changes as teams shuffle their lineups.
“We just capped an amazing inaugural Overwatch League season, crowning our first-ever champion in front of a sold-out crowd of dedicated and passionate fans,” said Pete Vlastelica, president and CEO of Activision Blizzard Esports Leagues. “Now, as we look forward to the 2019 season and beyond, we’re adding eight new teams that will help us grow our league in important regions around the globe. We know that the difference between a good league and a great league is its owners, and we set a high bar for our first season with the caliber of ownership groups. Every one of these expansion franchises cleared that bar and will make our league even better.”
Here’s a quick look the ownership groups backing the new teams:
- 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 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 livestreaming 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.
Official team names, logos, and rosters will be revealed at a later date.