The Seoul Bowl Success

The Overwatch League on the APAC side kicked off with the Seoul Dynasty facing off against the newly minted Seoul Infernal (previously the Philadelphia Fusion) at a LAN event. Though the North American Overwatch League did not have a LAN opening, as they have in the past, the Seoul teams put together a small LAN event for their first match against each other and of Season 6. It was a great collaboration between the two organizations of Gen.G and T1. The Seoul Bowl was a great success for many reasons!

The Environment

The event was held at the Daehan Theater near the Chungmuro station. This central location made it easily accessible to many fans. It brought back many memories of the Korean Overwatch LANs of APAC.

The fans were in the audience with their signs supporting both teams. It may have been the audio from the League’s side, but the only thing that was missing was the iconic fan chants that define an Overwatch start of a map. It was nice to see that the players were able to play in front of the crowd and their reactions to the wins and losses highlighted their personalities. The energy was high which was set by the players walking out and doing a fun little skit before sitting down to play. No doubt the fan energy also brought the players hype for the match as well!

Production

[Teaser] SEOUL DERBY｜스프링 스테이지 퀄리파이어 ｜오버워치 리그 2023

Not only did the community get a teaser video that was done wonderfully before the match, but they also got an old-school trash talk video right before the match started. This was again reminiscent of the APAC pre-match trash talk segments that they used to show.

From the trash talk video, there were a few lines that will become season-long narratives. Such as Zest wanting to be known as the ‘Tiger Slayer’ as well as Profit calling Prophet ‘not that smart but they trust him as he shoots well’. The video was well put together and was fun banter before the match.

With the exception of a couple of pauses, the LAN went really smoothly. The camera people got a good diversity of shots of the crowd, the players, the stage, and the signs. It didn’t have the OGN production of the CGI projected heroes and such, but for a LAN that only had two teams present it went very well!

Fan engagement

When it comes to branding, events like this are the best possible thing. Not only did it bring a lot of attention to the two teams on social media, but the fans were able to meet up with the players in a fan meet and greet. Many fans are fans of a team because of the players on the team. These events only strengthen the bonds between the fans and their teams in which their players play on.

Unlike when the games are played online, there was an opportunity to see the players interact afterwards when it came to the handshakes which is always a fan favorite. As well as finally having player interviews. For the Seoul Dynasty who won the match, Junyoung ‘Profit’ Park was able to interview in front of the crowd for 5 minutes. This gave fans an opportunity to hear from a player which normally would not have happened.

The Seoul Bowl

Overall the first-ever Seoul Bowl on LAN was a great success. With three teams, the Seoul Dynasty, the Seoul Infernal, and the Dallas Fuel, all in the Seoul area, it is exciting to think of more events like these being put on during the season.

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