In a press release made early Tuesday morning, Eagle Gaming announced that it would be breaking the buyout clause in its Contenders players' contracts in order to increase the players' likelihoods of being signed to Overwatch League and Overwatch League Academy teams.





Eagle Gaming is a French media company and esports organization whose Overwatch Contenders team was crowned champion of Contenders Europe Season 2 this past weekend. In front of a home crowd in Paris, the all-French roster defeated Angry Titans 4-1 in the Grand Finals, improving upon their 5th-8th place finish in Contenders Europe Season 1.





The organization thanked Blizzard, their team's fans, and their players for an excellent season and the opportunity to compete in front of a French crowd, but said that with their victory comes the beginning of the Overwatch League Season 2 transfer window.





"The recent announcement of eight additional teams for the Overwatch League ... makes this period even more important for players. Eagle Gaming’s aspiration is to help our talented eagles to reach the top of the Overwatch esport scene," said Eagle Gaming. "It's in this perspective that we decided to renounce any buyout in case an Overwatch League team or an Academy team would want to recruit one of our players. It would be an honor and a satisfaction to see them playing in the Blizzard Arena."



▲ Eagle Gaming hoists their Contenders trophy in the air - via Tan Fordeveaux

Xavier Calvi, the President and Founder of Eagle Gaming, had this to say regarding the organization's decision: “As the President of Eagle Gaming, I ever thought of the well-being of my employees and more especially, the players. Even if we have an effective successful team, who proved its great potential during the Overwatch Contenders finals, we prefer to escort our players through their careers to reach top level of competition.



"That’s why we [decided] to break the buyout clause in their contract to offer them the best chance to obtain a place in an Overwatch League team. For these who will go away from us, we wish them the best and hope they will keep some great moments with us."



The eight Overwatch League expansion teams have an exclusive window to sign free agents, which began September 9th and will end on October 7th. On October 8th, a free agent signing period begins for all teams. Each Overwatch League team must have a minimum of eight players under contract by December 1st.