Overwatch League
INTRO
ROLE
UI/UX
Product Strategy
Creative Direction
Technical Strategy
Client/Context
Blizzard Entertainment
Year
2018-2019
Category
Streaming & Events
+18%
WoW Retention
(2018, Mobile vs. Non-Mobile Users)
10.8M
Watched 2018 Finals
(2018, Viewership stats by Polygon)
75.9M
Hours Watched
(2019, Esports Charts)
An Integrated Experience
Built to work together
Overwatch League (OWL) was built from the ground-up to be a integrated experience across the game client, broadcast, website and mobile app.
Leading up to the launch we spent weekends on every meticulous detail from the colors and typography to the treatment of team logos. First priority, people needed to know the schedule and we wanted to make it incredibly easy to know when matches were happening - this included a favorites syncing system with Battle.net to allow fans to traverse between the mobile app and the website.
Designed for all occasions
From couch to venue
The Web & Mobile teams I managed at the time built a deep integration with the game utilizing a service called the Game Data API (GDAPI) - which became the blueprint for all Blizzard Esports platform integrations. Importantly , it enabled the website, app and broadcast team to get near real-time player and match data including the active map (even if it changed mid-match).
Players could follow the match without even watching it but it was also a great way to review data and maps if you were in a live audience or at home since the broadcast didn't always have room to display that data on screen.
Esports is more fun to watch on a big screen. Taking from our experience working on BlizzCon, we worked with MLG's team to implement Chromecast and Airplay so most smart TVs could become a venue to watch - enabling fans to watch on TV while reviewing the maps and stats right in their hand.
These integrations massively drove up viewership and engagement numbers which were the primary success KPIs in the Inaugural Season being a primarily sponsorship driven league. These metrics would later be used to secure multi-million dollar deals with Twitch and YouTube Gaming.
Designed for Retention
A hub for updates
The app was also designed for people that couldn't watch live, allowing people to follow their favorite teams, read news and profiles and get access to the video of the match on demand.
These features particularly made the mobile app effective at improving week over week retention (over 15%) since it allowed people to keep getting updates or consume the media at their own pace over the week rather than relying on live matches alone.
The benefit of deep integration
Integrated with the game
Outside of sponsorships, the game pulled in revenue from a specialized currency called League Tokens. They could be purchased to buy team skins and in-game cosmetics but fans could also earn them by watching matches.
This integration worked across our websites and mobile apps helping to generate even more viewership for the league. Especially because people couldn't always watch live, we also implemented spoiler features and detailed calendar options to make it as easy as possible to find time to watch games while preserving the thrill of watching live.
These features would eventually be expanded into a fantasy pick'em game (primarily delivered via the mobile app) that enabled fans to earn League Tokens by guessing player stats and winners.
A world-class operation
The most watched esport of 2019
The Overwatch League ran until 2023 and for the first two years exceeded its financial goals and soared in viewership making $22 million in 2018 and the finals alone watched by 10.8 million people. The league secured major sponsor deals with Coca-Cola, Comcast: Xfinity, HP Omen, IBM, T-Mobile, Intel, Spotify, State Farm and Toyota.