Once a niche subculture, esports and competitive gaming have now become a mainstream phenomenon. The Overwatch League and Call of Duty League feature wealthy owners from the NFL, League of Legends and Dota 2 regularly sell out stadiums, and Fortnite has its own World Cup. The next big sport could be a video game.
The sixth season of the Overwatch League kicks off next month, and while there are some big changes in store — a shift to Overwatch 2, teams in new cities, lots of confusion in China — I’m mostly excited about the deluge of new kits, particularly this inaugural Seoul Infernal jersey.
The Mid-Season Invitational, or MSI, pits top League teams from all across the world, and it’s one of my favorite gaming events of the year. MSI takes place over the course of many days in May, and you can buy tickets starting later this month.
The folks at the Overwatch League Head Office shared a Grand Finals highlight video capturing all the match’s best moments. Since this is coming more than a month after the Grand Finals ended,
I have the suspicion that during this offseason — with no word how long it’ll be or in what capacity the Overwatch League will return when the fate of its four Chinese teams and the handful of teams that practice with them is up in the air thanks to the deal between Blizzard and its Chinese publishing partner NetEase has now dissolved — Blizzard wants to remind fans of all the fun they had watching in-person and online.
The League of Legends World Championship finals were this weekend, and the competition was absolutely wild — and I’m not just talking about Lil Nas X’s performance.
The best-of-five match-up between T1 and DRX went the distance, with plenty of thrilling moments, including multiple Baron steals from T1 that dramatically changed the shape of the series. Ultimately, DRX managed to pull out the win, ending Faker’s chance at another Worlds title. If you missed it on Saturday night, check out these highlights.
This year’s edition of the League of Legends World Championship featured Lil Nas X, Jackson Wang, and some impressive technology.
The match capped off OWL’s most exciting week all season
Software like Aim Lab and KovaaK’s are key parts of the esports ecosystem
Overwatch League commissioner Sean Miller shares his thoughts on what a new game will do for the League
