Mentioned in this article Teams: Fnatic, G2 Esports Games: Overwatch

As of today, Fnatic’s Overwatch team is no more. The roster decided to leave the organization and move on as team Reunited, the players’ own brand, solely dedicated to Blizzard’s new shooter Overwatch. After Fnatic had closed its Battlefield division in October, everything indicated that the roster might transfer to Overwatch. Back then, the eSports Observer was able to confirm those plans and get a statement by team captain Thomas “Morte” Kerbusch, who was very enthusiastic about the new challenge.

Now, only two months later, Fnatic’s Overwatch plans are obsolete—at least for the time being. [perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]There is no real benefit to join a major organisation.[/perfectpullquote]

“We had more than two great years with Fnatic, and we are really grateful for their continued support. But we wanted to create something on our own for a long time now,” Kerbusch explains.

Confronted with the sentiment, that it’s a risky move to leave a major organization and create a new brand, Kerbusch answered:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“We decided to take that risk and give it a shot. At the moment, there is no real benefit to join a major organisation. Everyone is still trying to figure out how big Overwatch will be. But we are confident that it will be huge. I’d say, Overwatch is easily the game with the most esports potential this year. All major organizations, including Fnatic, are certainly gathering information and exploring their options. But instead of waiting for the big organizations to move, we decided to go our own way.”[/perfectpullquote]

At least Blizzard’s omens for its game are favourable. The Overwatch keynote at last year’s Blizzcon leaned towards esports, and since the company is searching for an Esports Director for Overwatch, it looks like Blizzard is willing to fully commit.

Plus, other organizations have joined the race for glory. Names like G2 Esports, Planetkey Dynamics, Froyotech and others are already circulating in the growing Overwatch scene. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we see more teams getting picked up in the near future, even without any major tournament announcement,” Kerbusch says.

He and his teammates at Reunited are eager to battle among the highest level of competitive Overwatch and “become the best Overwatch team in the world.” Their confidence that stems from a history full of major and minor successes. With a cabinet full of gold medals from Quakecon, ESL One and Dreamhack, along with being the team with the most back-to-back Major tournament victories in the history of ESL, Reunited should have no problem becoming a strong force in Blizzard’s new realm.