Image: Blizzard Entertainment
The Overwatch League Grand Finals saw Florida Mayhem emerge as winners amid uncertainty of the tournament's future.
The 2023 Overwatch League tournament has crowned its final champions: first-time championship winners Florida Mayhem. The team vanquished Houston Outlaws with a whopping 4-0 win in a best-of-five series, taking home a shining trophy and $1 million in prize money. Houston Outlaws will also leave with a hefty $400,000, knowing that they will likely be a part of Overwatch League history once the dust settles.
For those unaware, Blizzard Entertainment laid off staff to slim down its esports divisions in both the Call of Duty and Overwatch Leagues earlier this year. The Overwatch League’s 2023 season came to an end earlier today, but beyond that its teams will have to cast votes on whether they want to continue under a scaled-down version of the League or leave altogether. If the teams vote to leave, each team will get a $6 million payout upon their exit. If all of the teams vote to stay, the League will continue - but against an uphill battle of declining popularity and profitability.
The 2023 Overwatch League’s Grand Finals between Florida Mayhem and Houston Outlaws certainly felt like a last hurrah for everyone involved. Both teams played on Antarctic Peninsula, Blizzard World, Suravasa and finally Esperança in a diverse series of modes ranging from Control to Push and even Flashpoint, which is a new addition to the game.
Houston Outlaws struggled quite a bit in these four maps as Florida Mayhem went for a clean 4-0, keeping the enemy team off objectives and gaining the upper hand in pivotal duels. Watching both teams play Flashpoint was interesting considering its newness to the game, but Outlaws continued to lose control of objectives to the enemy team despite putting up a good fight. Mer1t was named MVP of the Grand Finals after winning against his old teammates at Houston Outlaws, which has got to sting.
While the fate of the Overwatch League remains a difficult mystery for now, everyone in attendance seemed resigned to its end today. The games’ casters were in tears towards the end, and a speech from Soe Gschwind from Watchpoint thanking the players, teams and fans, seemed as fond a farewell as any:
If the Overwatch League continues, it will likely take place under very different conditions. We could see competition play out with very different staff and teams involved, with less resources from Blizzard to keep it going for the long term. It's the end of an era.
