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Overwatch was a massive hit back in 2016, quickly sprouting into an esports giant thanks to the amazing popularity the game quickly gathered.
Unfortunately, just like the rest of the game, Blizzard mishandled the esports side, with bad decision-making and dragging out a huge pause before Overwatch 2 that caused issues for the teams and their owners.
With the 2023 Overwatch League finals, it is possible that we witnessed the last such event in this particular esport.
Just as Florida Mayhem were crowned champions and the event wrapped up, casters and analysts started saying their goodbyes, initially leading fans to believe that they were simply at the end of the contract with OWL but as more of them followed suit, suspicions arose that the league would actually shut down.
Naeri, the longtime Overwatch insider, also noted that this may be the last Overwatch League season, which caused even more fans to start wondering what the future might hold.
The prevailing theory at the moment is that the team owners just can't justify running an organisation in the league as franchising itself is expensive and the teams were just not earning enough to stay afloat.
Considering that League of Legends is having slightly similar problems at the moment, with teams selling their spots left and right, it appears that inflated costs of doing business in esports are taking their toll and it's possible it was not a matter of "if" but rather of "when" Overwatch League was going to go under.
Nothing is official yet but the picture certainly looks grim for the time being.
