Blizzard announces wave of new Overwatch 2 esports skins

In simple terms, Blizzard announced the teams they’ll be collaborating with for the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS), and they’re also planning to release fresh team-themed cosmetics.

For the 2025 season, Blizzard launched the OWCS Team Partner Program, offering teams an extra income source through sales of in-game cosmetics and MTX (microtransactions). Overwatch plans to develop team-branded skins that fans can buy, and a share of the earnings will be given back to these partnered teams.

For the Overwatch World Championship Series 2025 season, here are the nine diverse teams hailing from three distinct geographical areas: North America, Asia, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). These teams will be showcased as our partner teams.

New Overwatch team cosmetics are coming

Nine teams are enrolled in the OWCS Team Partner Program this season. Throughout the year, each team is set to obtain fresh cosmetic items.

North America:

  • Spacestation
  • Team Liquid

EMEA:

  • Gen.G
  • Twisted Minds
  • Virtus.pro

Asia:

  • T1
  • Team Falcons
  • Zeta Division
  • Crazy Raccoon

Regrettably, a dismal day for the @SFShock! Despite being the most victorious team ever, the most favored North American squad, generating impressive sales in merchandise and MTX, partnering with universities, backing Overwatch Collegiate Series Season 1 as a North American team, and likely investing more than others… yet still failing to secure victory.

— Andy Miller (@amiller) December 19, 2024

With this announcement, there were some significant oversights, particularly towards NRG, the team behind the highly successful and consistently performing San Francisco Shock. Notably, team owner Andy Miller voiced his surprise online, as despite their exceptional performance and strong sales in merchandise and in-game cosmetics, they were overlooked for a partnership opportunity.

The Toronto Defiant, a prominent team in the Overwatch esports scene, chose not to participate in the OWCS Team Partner Program because they felt the revenue distribution wouldn’t be financially advantageous for their team. In an interview with AVRL, the former owner of the Toronto Defiant voiced criticism towards Blizzard, expressing concern that Blizzard isn’t aggressively promoting Overwatch as an esport and is therefore wasting its potential.

In the past, the competitive gaming scene of Overwatch featured a system reminiscent of their current one. A portion of the revenue earned from the sale of in-game currency was assigned to every team.

At the OWCS Dallas Major tournament held in May, a significant 125,146 viewers tuned in for the clash between Crazy Raccoon and Toronto Defiant. Yet, the future of Overwatch esports remains uncertain as the overall viewership on Twitch has decreased due to the emergence of Marvel Rivals.

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2025-01-21 01:57