Blizzard made a big mistake in an Overwatch tournament. The players then went on strike – and were threatened with disqualification.
The history of Overwatch esports can generally be described as quite difficult. In addition to numerous errors in planning, there was now a big mistake during the Overwatch Contenders EU.
The “Overwatch Contenders EU” tournament featured a match between Team 01 Esports and Munich Esports. After Munich Esport took a clear 3-0 lead, the fourth round began. 01 Esports was able to catch up easily, the 4th and 5th match decided in their favor that the score was 3:2. Match 6 was in progress when Blizzard made a mistake.
Blizzard changes rules in the middle: It happened what amazed all players and fans. The match ended with a final score of 3:2 and Munich eSports was declared the winner – although the 6th round had just started. Much to the astonishment of the players, because up to this point everyone assumed that it was a “Best of 7” (FT4), i.e. one side had to win at least 4 wins.
Although the tournament rules stated that the games would be a “Best of 5” (FT 3), the players were previously informed by the admins that they had switched to a “Best of 7”.
The players had asked for clarification in advance and can even use screenshots to prove that they were officially informed that it was now a “Best of 7”.
Players strike, are threatened: Not surprisingly, many players see this as pretty bad for a fair tournament. The result was that other teams showed solidarity and canceled their own games. Team Ex Oblivione, who lost against 01 Esports, agreed with their opponents simply not to play the match. They did show up for the games, but after a few seconds of play it became clear that they were just joking around – both teams weren’t trying at all.
The organizers then tried to save the situation and above all the transmission and explained to the teams in the chat:
If both teams decide not to play then we have to disqualify both teams.
Can we now confirm that both teams are ready to go and will play to the best of their ability to work towards an outcome of the game?
The players simply stated: “We refuse to play unless you fix the competitive integrity”.
This had previously been made clear in a statement on Twitter. One sees the integrity of the entire event in danger when communication takes place with such false information.
Blizzard backtracks, tries to save it: After the outcry became too great, Blizzard issued a statement trying to somehow save the situation:
Having reviewed the circumstances, we are confident to be consistent in communicating with teams that we have said it is an FT4 series [„Best of 7“] would be and that this is the fairest way.
The result is that none of the teams will be disqualified and 01 Esports will face Munich Esports again to play the 6th round and a possible 7th round.
Blizzard has already made a few mistakes: recently they presented a tournament setup that was reminiscent of Lan parties from 2008.