The Overwatch League recently streamed a special Watchpoint update on YouTube about the changes to the season moving forward amidst the CoronaVirus outbreak. The biggest change is the league transitioning to online play for the time being, but other big news was announced including the cancellation of the Midseason Tournament and moving All-Star Weekend to the end of the season.
With the implementation of the homestand format for the entirety of the 2020 season, the Overwatch League decided to forgo the typical four-stage format and instead play a larger midseason tournament to coincide with the All-Star weekend in the middle of the season. It would have featured the top teams in the league set to face off for a substantial amount of money and bragging rights. Unfortunately, the midseason tournament has been cancelled for a handful of reasons all revolving around the outbreak.
The biggest reasons are of course concerns over the spread of the virus as large gatherings of people are essentially off-limits at the moment. The entire change in schedule for the league shows good judgement over safety and health of everyone involved. Another reason is the lack of matches played for roughly half of the league due to early homestands canceled. Without the same number of matches played to that point, it would be hard to justify having a tournament for the top teams for the competitive integrity of the game.
It’s nice to see that the league will still hold the All-Star weekend, though, albeit not in the middle of the season like it normally is. The All-Star weekend is an exciting time for fans of the league to be able to support all their favorite players playing together in a fun environment. There is also the Talent Takedown which features the broadcast talent playing a match for bragging rights and pride. It’s always a fun time and will be a nice cap to a somewhat rough season with unexpected and unprecedented issues.
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