Triumph Speaks Out About Reasons For Leaving Overwatch Path To Pro
Long ago feel the sanguine days of the idea of “Krusher99”, the fictional pro player that makes it to the big league through the “Path to Pro” system that Blizzard Entertainment coined their developmental programme designed to bring amateurs into the big league. Since then, we saw almost every Overwatch League team drop their academy roster while esports endemic esports organisations look elsewhere to sponsor teams in.
Yesterday, Overwatch esports’ Path to Pro took another hit with the exit of Triumph Gaming, an organisation that had enter the Overwatch space in January 2019, fielding North American Contenders rosters throughout their history.
In a statement on Twitter, General Manager Shawn “Rusto” Bischoff explained that his organisation’s exit came due to several factors, namely the lack of viewership, low prize pools and a lack of tournaments outside of Contenders as well as a lack of direct a developmental path for Contenders players.
He said: “The path to pro as Overwatch League originally announced it is really sort of an illusion, it doesn’t really exist. The lack of support from Blizzard as well as the Overwatch League teams themselves have created this environment where the odds of you getting to the league are so low and you’re better off just trying to hit rank 1 [on ladder]. Grinding Contenders doesn’t really do anything for you anymore.“
Triumph had been the stepping stone for Boston Uprising’s Kobe “Halo” Hamand into the Overwatch League as well as the team that content creator Sam "Samito" Dawahare rose to prominence with.
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Image via Triumph and Blizzard Entertainment
