The Overwatch League has suffered a lot from the coronavirus outbreak lately. The numerous homestands cancellations have forced Overwatch to held the competition online, changing the schedule to recover the majority of the matches that have been cancelled so far. Jon Spector — Vice President of Overwatch Esports — answered many questions on the official Overwatch League website about the changes that have been made.
Calendar Changes
Last weekend, ten matches were announced, different from the last schedule published. One of the lessons that the league organisation is learning from this crisis is that they had to be as flexible as possible in terms of schedule. Security is always paramount, and this means that the league must be able to react immediately to new developments and be prepared to change whenever it's necessary. Overwatch Esports works closely with the teams to continue to offer matches to fans around the world.
Modified schedules for the following weeks will be posted online as soon as they become available.
Teams Relocations
Some teams — such as London Spitfire and Vancouver Titans — have been relocated to South Korea, while Seoul Dynasty moved to Los Angeles during the Covid-19 crisis. For online matches, the priority is to allow teams to compete in the best conditions possible.
Depending on what is best for the health and safety of everyone, teams will be able to play from their offices, training facilities, or player accommodations.
The Broadcast
The broadcast team has been working over the last few weeks to prepare for the online diffusion. All the members of the American broadcast team are working at home to produce the show. All the matches will be cast!
Competitive Integrity
Online games mean other issues. Overwatch Esports is committed to creating a level playing field for teams around the world. Players have indicated that the most important thing is to reduce the latency of their connection as much as possible, as well as appropriate protection measures to detect and solve any potential cheating problems. The competition was structured according to the location of the teams and players. Several server locations were tested, and safeguards were installed, including software running on each computer.
Only matches whose connection speed has been tested and which can provide a level playing field will be allowed to take place. For teams competing within the same region, special servers have been developped to optimize connection speeds.
Miscellaneous
Computer and competitive operations teams will monitor and support each game. For example, prior to the start of each game, the IT team will remotely access all players' computers to assist with setups, while performing competition integrity checks. Overwatch Esports will manage the TeamSpeak servers so that teams can communicate with League staff to coordinate substitutions and deal with any problems.
Youtube videos quality has been reduced but you can always access the options to increase it if you wish.
Finally, the OWL teams are working on the possibility of having the players' webcams during online matches. This is even more complicated as many teams work and compete from home.
Two partnerships have been announced fot the Overwatch League. That's good news for the rest of the league!
