Blizzard’s revitalization of Overwatch’s competitive esports scene began earlier this year with the introduction of the Overwatch Champions Series. Replacing the Overwatch League, this new structure had an open format with online and in-person events. The company held its first two stages of the event and its summer Major earlier this year — and since the new stages have already begun, it’s brought back memories of watching said Major at DreamHack Dallas 2024.
DreamHack Dallas was the site of the OWCS’s first Major event, following Stages 1&2 (Stage 2 for the Asian regions started in August). While at DreamHack, I got to speak with both Bailey McCann, OWCS product lead, and Sean Miller, head of Overwatch esports, as well as several of the Overwatch 2 voice actors. McCann told me at the time, speaking about the new format, “This new open ecosystem for our players, it’s more accessible, serves their needs better and fulfills our original vision for Overwatch esports: An open, accessible, very authentic feel that is serving our community.”
Miller added that Blizzard had worked with FaceIt on a series of creator tournaments, and the company’s efforts to integrate OWCS into the esports scene. “We made it a point to keep it at that tier one level and what every player can aspire to be … All of those things have brought Overwatch to where people are — have brought this game, these heroes that everybody loves and are so attached to, to a much wider audience than we’ve ever been able to, and it’s been really meaningful.”
As McCann told me about the intentions for the OWCS: “We really want to focus on a community feel that felt authentic and serving our esports community. And honestly, I think being at DreamHack accomplishes that a lot.”
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Overwatch 2 at DreamHack Dallas
While at DreamHack, I also got the chance to speak with three of the actors who voice characters in Overwatch 2: Anjali Bhimani (Symmetra), Carolina Ravassa (Sombra) and Valeria Rodriguez (Venture). If there was one through-line in all of my talks, it was that DreamHack and the esports side of the event both facilitated and meshed well with the event’s other areas: The local indie developer showcase, the artists alley, the increased presence of TTRPGs and the massive tabletop card gaming space in one part of the event.
Bhimani told me, “Every single DreamHack feels like it’s a little bit different because it’s growing and expanding in such cool ways. It’s not just about the size of the audience, or the size of the convention. I feel like DreamHack is constantly trying to make the attendees’ experience more vast and more inclusive. Whether it’s more opportunities for casual gamers or more opportunities for people with different interests, or different vendors or different charities, which that part to me means so much. I love that they are changing it up every time.”
Speaking about their experience voicing a character who became part of the esports scene, Rodriguez said, “Our characters get to keep living on, because it’s a living, breathing thing with esports with people consistently playing these characters in the public eye … Because people keep playing them in these tournaments, they continue to leave a sort of legacy.”
Ravassa added, in reference to how Sombra and the other character had evolved over time, “We get to grow with the characters. We get to see how the gamer community evolves with the characters and the new additions. With the changes and the reworks, we all feel brand new, and that stuff is exciting because we get to move along with something. I’d never had an experience like that. So it’s just a family that keeps growing.”