The Overwatch League is planning to start its next season on an “early build” of Overwatch 2 in April 2022, OWL vice president Jon Spector confirmed Friday.
Amidst a ton of unknowns about both the Overwatch League and Overwatch 2, Spector took to Twitter Friday to drop some earthshattering news about both on the timeline in one fell swoop.
Oh yeah also this https://t.co/9SdBXXSyzz
— Jon Spector (@Spex_J) September 3, 2021
As first reported by Dot Esports, and soon rebuffed on Twitter by Spector, the next season of the OWL will not be delayed with a year-long hiatus, and instead, begin on time with Overwatch 2 taking center stage.
“I’ve seen a lot of speculation regarding a 2022 start date for OWL,” Spector said. “We can confirm that our plan is to begin next season in April 2022. We will share more details about 2022 roster construction timelines soon and more info generally on our 2022 season as we get closer to April.”
A move that has been said to be one lobbied for by players and staff of the league, according to the Washington Post, switching professional play to the sequel of the hero shooter would of course likely mean a 5v5 “rostermania” offseason would take place in the months to come.
The biggest “but this is bad, actually” take I’ve seen in many comments is that 5v5 will ruin the Overwatch League.
You can either have a new, balanced, shiny game to play on or you can keep 6v6. Pick one. You cannot be mad about both. Choose your lane.
— Liz Richardson (@mizliz_) September 3, 2021
The general release for Overwatch 2 remains up in the air, outside of a report from Dexerto, however, that Blizzard is aiming to release the game before Summer 2022.
For now, the Overwatch League postseason is set to begin on Saturday, Sept. 4, with play-in matches. Two weeks later, on Saturday, Sept. 16, the OWL Playoffs will kick-off.
