Blizzard launched a program related to building the Overwatch game ecosystem and the Overwatch League e-sports community.
The program’s mission is to build a comprehensive game and competitive environment within the Overwatch ecosystem, taking a big step forward from October 4 with the Overwatch 2 early access launch.
This many people think of Riot Games’ effort to make Valorant more comprehensive when the shooting game launches in 2020. At that time, Riot worked to make the game accessible to more female gamers. into eSports games and events. About 40% of Valorant players are then known to be female, much higher than this percentage of League of Legends.
Esports is a game genre that could certainly have more diverse uses, and Blizzard Entertainment has more work to do, as evidenced by an ongoing California sexual harassment lawsuit against the company and parent company Activision. Blizzard. Blizzard, and this show can be seen as proof of that effort.
Blizzard says the new effort is one that focuses on equity, visibility and community support for underrepresented genders. Blizzard said that developers, alliance offices, teams, players, players, and fans all have an important role to play in making Overwatch a safe and welcoming community.
The gaming team is working on a new initiative called Defense Matrix – an infrastructure of systems designed to protect gameplay integrity and promote positive behavior in Overwatch 2. Defense Matrix strengthens the security and gameplay experience of Overwatch through aspects such as SMS protection, audio recordings, and an all-new first-time user experience feature.
The company is also opening new avenues in the competitive ecosystem for players and talent, including the new Challengers Cup and Caster Camp.
The Challengers Cup will run alongside Path to Pro in the fall and winter of 2022 as an additional competitive trail for the underrepresented. This tournament is not a replacement for Path to Pro. Instead, Blizzard hopes the tournament will act as a representative in the broader Overwatch e-sports ecosystem. This is similar to what Riot has done with esports events.
Blizzard encourages all who qualify for both the Challengers Cup and Path to Pro. To maintain a fair competitive environment, the Challengers Cup is supported by a thorough gender verification system that all participants must complete.
Regarding that process, Blizzard says the Call All Heroes verification process is built with the insights and efforts of people from quarantined spaces and their experiences in gaming. The verification process is designed to restrict any person from doing bad deeds and therefore requires verification of accounts including Battle.Net, social media accounts and self-identifying information.
“We will rely on self-identification of a candidate’s gender, and if an individual completes all steps, they will be accepted into the program,” Blizzard said. This is to ensure that all participants are not gender-restricted.” The company is partnering with Raidiant, a platform and production company for the underrepresented, to host the upcoming Challengers Cup. Finals will take place in December 2022. The top eight teams (top four of each qualifier) competed in a doubles knockout format.
Caster Camp aims to provide underrepresented groups the opportunity to learn from some of the best broadcaster talent in the industry, build skills, and form professional relationships. The studio hopes that this program will help create fairness in the commentary space and create a more diverse talent pool for the Overwatch competitive ecosystem. Programming for Caster Camp will be handled by Soe Gschwind, Matt “Mr. X” Morello and other Overwatch League talents.
All participants had the opportunity to apply what they had learned during the lessons and submit a video of them trying out the Overwatch map for review by a panel of instructors. Registration period is from September 30 to October 17.