Due to a resurgence of the coronavirus in China, the schedule for the fifth season of the flagship competition around the FPS Blizzard's multiplayer will be slightly turned upside down.
The western region should not be impacted for a launch still scheduled for early May. But teams in the eastern region will have to wait until May 20 before entering the competition, which will run on the same build as the closed beta of Overwatch 2.
One more concern for the Overwatch League
Despite the lack of major sponsors for its launch, the Overwatch League will get off to a good start in early May…at least at half capacity. As the health situation in China has experienced new developments, the teams in the eastern region will not be present before May 20.
This measure thus concerns the Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, Shanghai Dragons, Los Angeles Valiant, New York Excelsior, Philadelphia Fusion and Seoul Dynasty teams. That's a good majority of the teams competing for this new season of the Overwatch League.
Like the 2020 and 2021 editions, this one will take place mainly remotely. The holding of live matches on a stage seems indeed still compromised for this year. Blizzard still intends to organize three events of this caliber at home with teams from the western region like Houston Outlaws, Dallas Fuel or Toronto Defiant.
The crazy dream of hosting live Overwatch League matches around the world, sabotaged by the first wave of coronavirus, now seems a long way off. You never know, maybe we will be entitled to such events next year… provided that the sponsors wish to support Activision Blizzard's eSports competitions.
