Report: Overwatch League will be based in North America and cast by MonteCristo and DoA
According to ESPN, Blizzard’s upcoming Overwatch League will be “based in North America”. The news was revealed during an interview with renown League of Legends and Overwatch casters Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles and Erik “DoA” Lonnquist.
The duo revealed that they will be moving from South Korea back to the United States to work as OW League casters.
“Obviously we will serve as broadcasters for the Overwatch League once it begins in Q3 of 2017, but we’re also excited to serve as consultants to Blizzard as the broadcast and shoulder content takes shape,” MonteCristo told ESPN. “One of the most compelling aspects of moving back to the States is the opportunity to help build a show from the ground up that resonates with fans as an authentic esports product rather than overreaching into outmoded models from traditional sports.”
The pair are currently based in Seoul, South Korea, where they cast OGN’s Overwatch league, APEX. Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer added that both MonteCristo and DoA will be working with Blizzard in an “official capacity.”
MonteCristo and DoA relocating to the United States further supports the notion that Overwatch League will be U.S.-focused. An image from a presentation last month highlighted proposed cities for Overwatch League; of the cities shown, 11 were based in North America, three in Europe, and two in Asia. Blizzard later clarified that the image was “made for the audience here to illustrate the vision.”
Yahoo Esports has reached out to Blizzard for comment and will update if we hear more.
APEX concludes this weekend with the finals featuring teams RunAway and Lunatic-Hai. The tournament will be livestreamed on Twitch.
