This season, Blizzard Entertainment is moving their esports content streaming from Twitch to YouTube as previously reported. Starting at 1:00 PM EST, you can watch the Overwatch League on both February 8 and 9 at the Overwatch League’s YouTube Channel, excluding China. The platform used for Chinese viewers of the Overwatch League has not been announced as of publication.
Photo Courtesy of Overwatch League
As stated in this press release, the move made by Blizzard will bring the Call of Duty League, Hearthstone Esports, World of Warcraft Mythic Dungeon, WoW Arena and Overwatch League to be under YouTube Gaming’s services. Google Cloud provides low latency and pocket loses to make an overall better experience for viewers. “We’ve worked closely with Activision Blizzard for the past few years across mobile titles to boost its analytics capabilities and overall player experience,” said Sunil Rayan, Head of Gaming, Google Cloud.
Pete Vlastelica, CEO of Activision Blizzard Esports has said, “It’s our mission to deliver high-quality competitive entertainment that our fans can follow globally, live or on-demand, and to celebrate our players as the superstars that they are. This partnership will help us deliver on that promise at new levels, by combining our passionate communities of fans and players with YouTube’s powerful content platform and exciting history of supporting next-generation entertainment.”
Photo courtesy of Activision Blizzard
One item of note is the absence of a truly exclusive deal for the league. What this means is that all official streaming services will run through YouTube Gaming for the leagues. However you can still watch your favorite players on their preferred streaming service. It was not specified how long this contract is, but is slated as a “Multi-year strategic relationship”.
Watch the Overwatch League kick off its first homestand game February 8 at 1:00 PM EST where you can watch the Paris Eternal take on the Toronto Defiant here.
Featured image courtesy of the Overwatch League.
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