The Overwatch League is Blizzard’s official esports league for team shooters. But the place where the pros compete against each other doesn’t really look professional to many.
What is this tournament? The Overwatch League is a professional esports league for the team shooter Overwatch. This regularly hosts games in which Overwatch professionals compete against each other.
In the meantime, the 2022 season is almost half over and for this reason the “Overwatch League Midseason Madness” has been started. There is not only a unique skin for the character Mercy, but there are also impressions of the tournament room.
But exactly this room, where the pros are supposed to play against each other, is criticized by many people. Because this place is anything but professional and is more reminiscent of LAN parties from the decade before last.
You can read about how Overwatch 2 plays and feels in the following review on MeinMMO:
Overwatch 2 feels like a whole new game, although almost everything has stayed the same
Official setting for professional gamers looks like it’s from 2008
What is it about? A professional Overwatch player named Poko tweeted the picture of the venue, writing, “Tomorrow will be safe… Exciting?!!”. There were many comments on the official setting. That’s not appropriate for professional gamers.
What exactly is being criticized? Many users criticize that the whole room is simply unsuitable for competitive gaming:
Some cannot believe what they are seeing. As someone writes: “This is by no means the current setup.”
Soe Gschwind-Repp or Soembie, a well-known caster and analyst for the Overwatch League, also criticized the situation presented on Twitter. She writes on Twitter:
At this point I am convinced that someone was actively trying to put together a 2008 lan throwback setup. As…?!
If I fight me either [throw hands] or can play foot with my opponent, I’m just too close.
Are there also positive voices? There are also people who don’t see it all quite so dramatically. For example, professionals should be able to use very good gaming headsets that offer reliable noise cancellation. This way you should not be able to hear anything from the opposing teams.
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Some doubt that this setup will actually be used in the tournament
How realistic is this situation really? But there are also indications that the setup is not used in this state. Here’s how you can watch an official video from the Overwatch League on YouTube, and here’s a quick look at the setting as well. And here it is different (via YouTube.com):
Also noticeable when comparing the image of Overwatch player Poko to the YouTube video is that many pros are using and connecting their own hardware. This raises doubts as to whether the Overwatch League professionals are really playing on the setup shown, or whether Blizzard isn’t making some adjustments before the matches.
That would at least explain the big differences. Because most of the criticisms of the community can no longer be found in the video.
And if you’re wondering why there’s only room for 5 people on either side, you’ve missed the most important change in Overwatch 2. Because the developers have reduced the team size in Overwatch to 5v5. And this has a lasting effect on the entire gaming experience:
Overwatch 2 throws out a tank, is only 5vs5 – this also applies to part 1