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In a major shakeup in the sSports scene, Blizzard and Hi-Rez have announced that the team-based shooters Overwatch and Paladins will be set up with a new professional sports leagues.
Overwatch, which features 23 possible hero-characters brandishing weapons to take on unique objectives in the battlefield now has over 20 million players.
Blizzard have announced that the Overwatch league will be an avenue for professional competition.
The league will focus on long-term stability for teams as well as opportunities for players to establish themselves with a professional career that would usually be reserved for traditional sports.
CEO Mike Morhaime said the league will represent the very top level of the sport, but also become what should be considered an opportunity.
“The Overwatch League represents not only the pinnacle of Overwatch competition, but also a genuine career opportunity for the most skilled Overwatch players. We’re building a league that’s accessible to players and fans, sustainable, and exciting for everyone involved.” he said.
It has also been announced that teams will be representing major US cities, modelling professional sports leagues, in an attempt to build fan bases.
The inaugural season of the new league will be played out in 2017. The start of the season will see a combine, where players who have distinguished themsevles in competition previously will be invited to try out for teams to be included in the League.
Players who make it to the combine trials will be evaluated across a range of tests, giving teams the opportunity too sign those who have the best skills to round out their rosters.
Blizzard have confirmed that anyone picked up by a team during the signing period will be ensured of a contract that includes a yet-to-be-disclosed minimum salary and benefits package.
This contrasts with the general approach of games and leagues, which has been allowing third-party teams to form the lineups for a centrally controlled tournament circuit.
Meanwhile, the relatively new Paladins, launched in September, has announced Evie’s Winter Classic, which is an open tournament was originally announced for just North American and Europe. It has now expanded to six regions to include Oceania, Latin America, Brazil and Russia, with $10,000 available to the winner of each of the regions, making a total pool of $60,000.
An Oceania representative team will compete at the Hi-Rez Expo where the best Paladins teams in the world will compete for the chance to win $150,000 USD.
Both games are looking to earn a bit of the market share of wildly popular shooter Counter Strike: Global Offensive, currently tangling with Overwatch as the most played shooter worldwide at the moment.
It comes at a time when Korean giant OGN has pivoted to professional Overwatch, on the back of huge playrates in PC Bangs in the country.