Video recreation streaming platform Twitch has paid greater than $90 million for the unique rights to indicate the primary two years of the Overwatch League, in keeping with Sports Business Daily.
This is regarded as the largest esports distribution deal ever, representing a better annual determine than the $300 million BamTech paid Riot Games in 2016 to indicate League of Legends over the following seven years.
Both Twitch and Activision Blizzard are investing closely in Overwatch as a marketable esport, and this isn’t the primary eye-catching sum of money to be related to the Overwatch League. Players receive a $50,000 salary as a minimum and compete for a further $3.5 million in bonuses across the season. The team that win the grand final for instance, will receive a $1 million bonus.
Blizzard have also developed a companion app for the League, which lets gamers observe their favorite groups like they’d a standard sports activities group. Each group is a everlasting franchise themed round a metropolis relatively than an esports organisation – though large firms like Envy, Optic and Cloud9 function a number of them.
The Overwatch League begins tonight at 7PM EST (4PM PST, 12AM January 11 GMT). The common season runs till June, earlier than postseason playoffs start in July, with the ultimate going down over three days in the direction of the tip of the month. Players will then return for an “All-star weekend” in August.
This buy may symbolize a giant danger for Twitch, with Overwatch lagging significantly behind the highest esports video games by way of profitability. According to VentureBeat, Overwatch sits exterior of the 5 esports by way of earnings, and is just the fourth most watched recreation on Twitch.
We were impressed by the preseason broadcasts though, so it’ll be fascinating to see how effectively the League catches on.
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