The next Overwatch League season will be played on Overwatch 2

This story about changes in esports, boiled down, in 1:30 minutes.

What's the fuss?

The next season of the internationally acclaimed Overwatch League will feature the next game in the series Overwatch 2, presumably before it's released to the public.

The situation

The Overwatch League, the esports league for the 2016 competitive shooter game Overwatch, has been a staple in the pro gaming scene. 

• Teams of 6 each control unique heroes to beat their opponent in a variety of objective-based game modes, such as to defend a slow-moving payload.
• Wrapping up its 4th season later this month, millions of fans around the world are waiting in anticipation on which city will be crowned this year's champion.

Overwatch League's 5th season, slated to premiere next April, will take the league in an exciting new direction as it will use the unreleased sequel Overwatch 2 for its matches. 

• The league will feature an "early build" of the game, perhaps signifying that the sequel (which currently has no release date) will still be unreleased to be public by the time the new season commences.
• Overwatch 2 brings drastic changes to the competitive scene with it, meaning pro players will need to adjust their tactics come next April.
  

Boiling it down

One of the main differentiators between traditional sports and esports is that the latter has the ability to change. 

• Football is football, hockey is hockey.
• Regular updates and patches from developers means that esports games have the capacity to fundamentally change how they are played at almost any time.

Although The Overwatch League has hit viewership levels comparable to the Super Bowl, it experienced a sharp decline since 2020. 

• The move to using the game's sequel may bring the league back to its prime as fans are eager to see what the new game has to offer.

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