Two months ago Orena hosted the inaugural Overwatch Champions Ladder which peaked originally at 32 teams, winding down to 23 prior to the final stages. In the lengthy gap between ladders it seems all of South Africa’s hopeful Overwatch teams have completely given up and our fear that Overwatch is a bit too casual has now become a reality.
Upon speaking to people at the rAge expo this past weekend about Overwatch and its future (drawing comparisons to Heroes of the Storm) as an eSport, I remained confident that the eSport will persevere and perhaps feature in upcoming tournaments. Notably there was no Overwatch presence at rAge, and that was a recurring question to which my answer was “I have no idea why…”
Overwatch burst on to the competitive scene in July with tournaments popping up all over the globe. The ELEAUGE Open, Atlantic Showdown, BlizzCon Cup, and weekly tournaments featured in every news outlet as journalists kept calling it the next big eSports. Well, it may still be, but in South Africa it seems it has all but died a sudden death.
The second leg of Orena’s Championshp Ladder opened just over two weeks ago with a mere eight teams signing up. The Overwatch Ladder brought some changes which included the addition of internationals in South African teams. This was put in place as some teams complained about not being able to compete with their two or three international members, but it seems those teams have all but disappeared. From 23 teams competing daily, to a stagnant ladder, what is the real issue here?
Are teams unsure about the future of Overwatch when looking how drastically Heroes of the Storm failed in 2015? Perhaps. There still seems to be a large local following in South Africa as the Facebook group remains active daily with new posts, and videos going up. Could it be the time of the year with exams approaching (for most) and players not wanting to commit to a game at this very time. Maybe the prize pools are not enough and these need to be pushed a bit higher, making the game a bit more enticing, but that is a double-edged sword as approaching partners would be difficult with the current poor attendance in Overwatch.
Overwatch is an incredible game, and the debate whether we need South African servers has died down too. The opportunity South Africans have to compete on an international is aided by this forced exposure on European servers and I still truly feel we could field some great teams for international events. The next step is continuing to provide support for the local Overwatch community and perhaps push towards a big tournament to round the year off.
Please don’t let Overwatch die.
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Last Updated: October 11, 2016
VampyreSquirrel
October 11, 2016 at 15:09
The lag we have, tho not entirely noticeable all the time, is actually quite bad. That is enough to put some off playing against the Europeans.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 11, 2016 at 15:18
You need to GIT GUD!
VampyreSquirrel
October 11, 2016 at 15:29
GIT REKT! You don’t even have the game N00B!
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 11, 2016 at 15:47
I’m not the one who can’t beat some lousy euro-peon!
Dark
October 11, 2016 at 15:25
Lag? Seriously?
VampyreSquirrel
October 11, 2016 at 15:28
Yes.
TechnoJedis.com
October 12, 2016 at 08:24
I agree. I’ve had maybe 3 times that lag was a problem over the past 4 months. My ping averages around 180 – 200 and I’m playing the game completely fine
Archdruid Kromas
October 11, 2016 at 15:27
Really? Because I am still running that petition and all I get is messages saying that it is a waste of time and I should rather spend it getting better at the game. 😛
VampyreSquirrel
October 11, 2016 at 15:29
Hahaha, Not surprising really. But yeah, people are… well… questionable in their logic and intelligence.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
October 11, 2016 at 16:06
The lag is real but one learns to compensate. Anyway SA servers would be sparsely populated with professionals clans leaving casuals to wallow in misery
TechnoJedis.com
October 12, 2016 at 08:24
Great point
TechnoJedis.com
October 12, 2016 at 08:23
Off a 2mb line, I’ve been totally fine. So I really don’t think that’s enough of a reason to call it quits. From Hanzo, Widow Maker, Mei to Mcree the headshots are happening. So i really don’t think that’s a problem
VampyreSquirrel
October 12, 2016 at 08:37
I think it’s a perception thing… if you’re constantly out in the open then you really won’t notice it. I’ve had it (multiple times on 2 different connections) where I’m ducking in and out of cover and die behind a wall, but the replay shows I was actually still in the open when I died.
I personally haven’t called it quits, and love the game, I’ve just been busy with Legion.
noxville
October 12, 2016 at 12:37
I mean, that happens to me all the time and I ping ~25ms to EU. It’s not the lag, it’s the shitty code 😀
40 Insane Frogs
October 11, 2016 at 15:16
Lack of PVE or an offline story put me to sleep!
Dark
October 11, 2016 at 15:24
Like CS Go?
Archdruid Kromas
October 11, 2016 at 15:38
An offline SP story based game would be an extremely terrible idea for an e-Sport.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
October 11, 2016 at 16:04
Yeah, but a SP mode that delves into every hero’s story would be nice.
Archdruid Kromas
October 11, 2016 at 17:28
Would be nice but we are talking e-Sports here.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
October 11, 2016 at 16:03
Same
TechnoJedis.com
October 12, 2016 at 08:25
Well, we do have PVE with Junkenstein with the latest patch
Gavin Mannion
October 11, 2016 at 15:40
” Notably there was no Overwatch presence at rAge,”
The Lenovo stage had Overwatch.. I know because they booted my daughter off to replace her with a male… not a fan of girl gamers I guess
Also Overwatch is not dead locally, still amazingly popular but being competitive is hamstrung by the lag.
Archdruid Kromas
October 11, 2016 at 15:41
Not according to pretty much everyone on local gaming sites. 😛
Gavin Mannion
October 11, 2016 at 15:53
meh what do they know 😉
Dungeon of JJ
October 11, 2016 at 15:47
Overmehhh 😛
Craig "Crios" Boonzaier
October 12, 2016 at 07:42
Yeah, I agree with this. I sit at a 200 ping on a good day, this past week it has been constantly spiking to the 600-800 mark, and that was for all blizz games. Seems like a little bit of issues somewhere snowballs its way down the line.
Deceased
October 12, 2016 at 11:21
Still playing religiously almost every night – or whenever I get a chance – Overwatch is love – Overwatch is life!!!
Bob
October 13, 2016 at 18:36
Lets go guys! SouthAfrican#21158