Despite having to cancel its homestands due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Overwatch League isn’t giving up on the 2020 season simply but. Instead of taking their present on the street, Blizzard have arrange a model new schedule to host League matches on-line. There are clearly some issues with holding aggressive occasions like this on-line when the groups are so unfold throughout the globe nonetheless, so issues are going to be slightly bit completely different for games within the coming weeks.
To keep away from latency points and make matches as truthful as potential, the groups will probably be competing within the areas they’re at present residing in. The LA Gladiators, LA Valiant, San Francisco Shock, Seoul Dynasty, Vancouver Titans and Dallas Fuel make up the US West Coast contingent. Atlanta Reign, Boston Uprising, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, London Spitfire, Philadelphia Fusion, New York Excelsior, Paris Eternal, Toronto Defiant, and Washington Justice will compete in opposition to one another on the East Coast (and in Texas). And the Chinese groups, the Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, and Shanghai Dragons may have their very own units of matches, too.
This means the season goes to be a bit bizarre in the meanwhile – with six groups on the West Coast, 10 on the east and simply 4 in China, some groups will probably be enjoying a number of games in opposition to one another to ensure everyone seems to be competing in the identical variety of matches general.
But it additionally means our favorite OWL gamers don’t must do any pointless journey to compete, and we nonetheless get to look at some thrilling matches with the new hero pools in place.
“In the course of playing this portion of the 2020 schedule, each team will play the amount of matches necessary to catch them up to the total amount of matches they had been scheduled to play through the midseason point of the original schedule,” Blizzard says. “This means Pacific Conference groups will typically play extra regularly than groups within the Atlantic Conference. The schedule was designed to maximise equity between groups, factoring within the whole quantity of matches performed every week.
“We appreciate the support and understanding of all our players, teams, fans, and partners as we continue to adjust our planning and scheduling based on new developments. The league plans to return to team-hosted homestand competitions in front of live audiences as soon as it is safe and logistically possible.”
Matches kick off this Saturday on YouTube beginning with the West Coast lot, and you’ll take a look at the brand new schedule on the OWL website.
If you’re seeking to discover out what different game-related occasions have been placed on maintain or are making different preparations because of the pandemic, Alice O compiled a giant listing of gaming coronavirus cancellations.
