A competitive ruling ended a regional Overwatch Contenders match prematurely. As a result, players taking part in the European Overwatch Contenders Summer Series tournament refused to continue playing, electing to stage a walkout in defiance of Blizzard.
Recently, Blizzard decided to host an Overwatch Contenders series. After several rounds of competition, 01 Esports and Munich Esports made their way to the winner’s bracket final, which was supposed to be a best of seven series according to several players, the tournament’s rules website, and a Blizzard tournament administrator.
Munich Esports took a 3-0 lead in the series before 01 Esports stormed back to make the series 3-2. That’s when things went haywire.
Apparently, Blizzard Tournament admins abruptly ended the match, claiming that the series was supposed to be a best of five, not a best of seven. Since Munich was the first to three wins, they were awarded the victory, which caused a major backlash against Blizzard from players on both teams who shared conversations with tournament admins confirming the series was supposed to be a best of seven.
In turn, 01 Esports, who had moved onto the loser’s bracket, coordinated a strike with their opponent, Ex Oblivione. Once the walkout happened, the broadcast was paused and later ended. Soon after this, an Ex Oblivione player was reportedly told by admins that both teams would be disqualified if they refused to play. However, after much backlash online, Blizzard allowed Munich and 01 to finish the best of seven series.
Still, this is just further evidence of some of the larger problems taking place across the board at Blizzard. As the GM of Ex Oblivion puts it, Blizzard needs to own up to its mistakes.
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