Mentioned in this article Games: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch

Earlier this year, The Esports Observer reported on a grassroots esports initiative called City League. The organization’s idea was to create a geolocated Overwatch league where teams representing European cities would compete against each other on a weekly basis. 12 esports organizations signed on to represent their home cities playing from local esports facilities. City League had plenty of potential, but one major problem: it was an Overwatch league operating in direct competition with Activision Blizzard’s own official geolocated Overwatch League.

At the end of City League’s preseason in April, the organization announced that it had been instructed by Blizzard to cease operations related to Overwatch. City League general manager Sjaak Kuil told The Esports Observer:

“We’ve started the pre-season for Overwatch because of its recent popularity. The pre-season was a blast, but unfortunately Blizzard decided to kill the City League project for Overwatch. We tried to find a way to run City League for Overwatch within the criteria of Blizzard, but this was undoable.”

In order for an organization to operate an Overwatch tournament, it must receive a license from Blizzard Entertainment. Amidst the rules for an approved event, Kuil noted three key restrictions that made an Overwatch City League impossible.

“First of all, you’re not allowed to run a league. You can host individual standalone tournaments, but these may not be connected with each other. Secondly, teams are not allowed to have a connection with a city. Lastly, teams are not allowed to play from a physical venue against another physical venue.”

Despite the setback, Kuil said that his team received enough feedback that convinced them to rebuild.

“Venues loved the idea to battle against other venues,” he said. “Some players traveled long distances to play in their venue for the honor of their hometown.” Kuil said that players and fans recommended several games for City League’s revival, but the team settled on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive .

CS:GO makes sense as a next step for City League. While the game has developer-run esports events, Valve does not operate a geolocated league. Rather than directly competing with the developer’s primary esports product, City League will offer the CS:GO community something unique. The CS:GO league will feature eight teams, including some cities that participated in the Overwatch version.

Kuil’s goal is to expand the City League concept into an international multi-game brand. “I would love to expand City League and set up the ‘Champions League’ of esports,” he said. “Help transform esports venues into local sports clubs and create all-year-long content.”

The concept certainly has potential given the current direction of the esports industry. While professional play in most top tier esports is restricted to developer-run leagues and circuits, amateur teams and smaller esports still rely on grassroots efforts. More and more dedicated esports facilities are being built, and those facilities will need to run events in order to generate revenue. City League could allow esports arenas to operate like minor league baseball stadiums, giving fans in smaller cities the chance to connect with a hometown team.

To Kuil, there are numerous benefits to esports venues. “All participants are individual businesses with a physical venue and unique features,” he said. “With City League, it’s possible for these local venues to reach an international crowd and have local activations at the same time.”