Toronto Defiant CEO Adam Adamou discusses recommitting to Overwatch esports
OverActive Media CEO Adamou Adamou remains bullish on Overwatch esports, offering one of the scene's most competitive offers to its players.
Despite scepticism from former Overwatch League team officials on the OWCS, Adamou doubled down that the ceiling of the new system was higher than OWL's, stating that “The league was killing the game and the esport.”
Still Defiant
On February 7, the Toronto Defiant announced their return to Overwatch esports with a star-studded roster, incorporating three starting members of the Florida Mayhem, the team that had won the last ever Overwatch League title in October 2023.
Insiders behind the scenes shared with GGRecon that Toronto Defiant offered one of the most competitive packages to players, including a relatively high, though in comparison to OWL standards modest salary.
The team will also offer housing in Toronto, bringing their South Korean players Ham "SOMEONE" Jeong-wan and Choi "MER1T" Tae-min over to Canada to practice and compete.
According to Adamou, Defiant's budget was a decision based on their ambition to attend both the major at Dreamhack Dallas and the Grand Finals in Stockholm and also uphold standards that allow them to assess whether or not a continued investment in Overwatch esports was viable going forward.
"There is an opportunity here for this system to be bigger than the Overwatch League," said Adamou in an interview with GGRecon, elaborating that the open system had the chance to bring former stakeholders back into the scene.
Opening up the system for influencers, more players, and more esports organisations to participate presented an opportunity for grassroots growth and rediscovery, Adam argued, a sentiment other former executives in teams did not share.
In a tweet in response to the announcement of the Overwatch Championship Series, VP of Esports Business at the Washington Justice, Grant Paranjape wrote: "This system is not economically sustainable for players or teams and represents a complete surrender in having esports aspire to be a standalone industry."
When asked about the different takeaways former OWL teams had from the new system, Adamou cited the large price tag to enter, responding: "Remember the Overwatch League required the teams to pay 30 million and we had a lot of included expenses we had to operate."
Citing a lack of skilled execution and mistakes in the delivery of the OWL product on top of streaming platform exclusivity made it "impossible to succeed," he argued. "The game as an esport is better and bigger than the league we created for it to be in. The league was killing the game and the esport," the CEO summarised, disclosing that he had been one of the people leading the charge against these issues behind the scenes.
In a report by Jacob Wolf, OverActive Media was pointed out in part as the leader behind the OWL franchise ownership groups organising a collective bargaining process to seek economic relief from the league. The franchises would eventually vote against the continuation of the League. In November 2023, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it would transition its esports system to what we now know as the OWCS.
How committed is Blizzard to Overwatch esports?
Discussing the limited opportunities for monetisation in the new system with only prize pool shares on top of team sponsorships, Adamou shared a picture of an endgame scenario for esports teams, stating that they will have to become a staple part of each game's in-game item store for future stability.
While the Overwatch League had MTX integrations via the Overwatch League store, so far, the Overwatch Championship Series has only shared its plans to release in-game items, of which a cut of the revenue would go towards the prize pool for the Major and Grand Finals. A first try of the model appears to have been attempted at the Overwatch World Cup for which a total of $513,162 was collected.
"A big part of the crowdsourcing that I’m looking for is how committed Blizzard is to selling that," Adamou said, explaining that his company's future investment will be tied to the effort and resources put forth for the esport by the developer.
While crowdfunding as the only revenue source will do for now, additional incentives will be required in the future. "Long-term that’s not enough. The teams will eventually need some partnership agreement with Blizzard if they want to turn this into something that can be competitive and long-term."
A handful of esports organisations, such as Twisted Minds and Falcon Esports, have announced their participation in OWCS, with more endemic organisations also expected to reveal their participation soon.
