

On the 3rd of August, at the ‘Park Hyatt Hotel’ in Seoul, a press conference regarding the Seoul team of the 'Overwatch League' took place.



In this conference, Kevin Chou and Phillip Hyun, the two founders of OWL’s Seoul team, made an appearance along with Nate Nanzer, the commissioner for the OWL. Through this opportunity, we were able to gather insight on how these figures view the OWL, and what their expectations are for its future.



Kevin Chou, the CEO of the Seoul team, revealed that he used to be a top 100 player in the StarCraft leaderboards. He also expressed his love for esports by stating, “I’m very excited to take my passion in esports to start my business.” Being a founder CEO of ‘Kabam’, a mobile game company, Kevin expressed that he wants to combine his “experience and technology from Silicon Valley” with what is provided here in Korea.



Phillip Hyun, the vice-chairman of the team, also expressed his love for video games. “I used to always go to PC cafes when I visited Korea as a child.” Phillip also believed that “the culture and player dedication of Korea,” and “the social element of how Koreans play together in PC cafes,” really play a big role in generating talented players for esports in Korea. As a Korean himself, Phillip really wanted talented players in Korea who have yet to be discovered to unveil themselves to the world.



Along with Nate Nanzer, the commissioner who briefly introduced himself by stating that he is “excited to be back in Korea,” the press conference began.







(To Nate) Ever since February, many teams from all over the world - especially Europe - started disbanding [especially because they won't be able to participate in the Overwatch League]. What do you think of this?



Nate: There is a lot to unpack regarding that question. First of all, OWL will have a very unique format. A unique format in which - for the first time ever in the history of esports - there will be home and away matches for all the teams participating. This means that a team has to have the capital and the infrastructure necessary to have a venue and operate it to host the event. Not every owner will have the capabilities to do that. So it was incredibly important for us to find investors who are capable of doing all that I have mentioned.



We also believe live esports events are incredibly important for the fans. And so, we want to bring live esports to more people around the world. Fortunately for you guys, it is easy to engage in live esports events in Seoul, but that is not the case for the majority of people in other parts of the world. Ultimately, this will further develop the fandom and bring about a deeper connection between fans, teams, and players. We went through a process in 'team sales'. During it, we met with virtually everyone who expressed interest in the idea and who we thought would be great operators.



In terms of teams disbanding, there are some organizations that have dropped Overwatch rosters. However, you have to consider, "What is an esports team?” and “What are we [the OWL] looking for?” Simply creating a logo and calling yourself a team won't work in the OWL because, like I have mentioned, you need to be able to operate a venue in order to participate.



We are doing many things to try to professionalize esports, and we think it’s incredibly important to have good opportunities for high-level players to play. That’s why we’re investing heavily into things like APEX, and we will continue to do so. We expect that many of these organizations will re-engage in the future because of this.



The most important thing to remember is, just because an organization suddenly decides to not have an Overwatch roster, doesn't mean those players would want to stop playing the game. We are still seeing a tremendous amount of engagement with the game at high levels of play, and we are going to continue to build a robust ecosystem "below" the OWL [such as APEX, Contenders, etc...], so that new players will have a chance to prove themselves and make it into the OWL.



You have to think about the differences between our structure and traditional esports leagues. It’s often been the case that teams win their way into the professional leagues – but the OWL will operate differently.





(To Kevin) A team will need at least 6 and at most 12 players in a roster to participate in the Overwatch League. How will you bring in more players? Will you buy an entire existing team? Will you create your own unique roster by bringing in different individuals?



Kevin: Even though Phillip and I have been in the gaming industry for a long time, our approach when we came to Korea [this time] was to learn about the players and other people in Seoul. Over this period of time, we have met many people and learned about the esports scene in more detail from them. We met with all the top teams from the past 3 seasons of APEX; we wanted to learn from them and understand their mentality and strategy and so forth. Our strategy is - obviously - that we want to put together the very best team. Teamwork is incredibly important if we want to claim victory. One of the things that set Korea apart is the teamwork that the players exhibit in the game. So our strategy is to first find the "core" players by partnering with an existing team, and then we will build the roster around that core.







(To Nate) If players are taken away from their already existing teams, those teams' performance levels will most likely drop. Will you or the Overwatch League provide compensation or some kind of program to allow teams that lose players to sustain themselves?



Nate: We are going to be very thoughtful about how players will move between the different tiers of play in Overwatch esports starting in 2018. We will be announcing soon our plans for 2018, as it relates to the rest of the ecosystem below the OWL. We do think it’s important that teams who are investing into developing talents feel rewarded. We also want them to know and feel that they're an important part of the ecosystem.



It’s really important for you to know how important it is to Blizzard and our team owners that we continue to invest in grassroots and amateur play. Korea is a very unique market, but you’re starting to see similar models throughout Asia where the pc cafes are becoming an incredibly important piece of the ecosystem. This is where up-and-coming players can make a name for themselves.



We at Blizzard plan to invest heavily in order to build out the grassroots programs here in Korea and around the world so that Kevin and Phil have a constant stream of new talents that they can evaluate and sign to their team. It’s very important that the OWL is an aspirational league where players can look forward to the stability of a contract on a team and a real career, and we want to make sure the path to getting there is clear. It’s very important to us.







(To Kevin) Korea has a history of struggling to generate revenue in terms of monetizing esports and even traditional sports. How will you generate revenue through OWL?



Kevin: This is an area where my experience as an entrepreneur really comes in handy, because, in Silicon Valley, it’s normal to take risks and innovate in order to do something differently. Over the last few years of visiting Seoul, I actually noticed all the things you mentioned, including the way esports teams are owned by major conglomerates. I saw all of these incredibly dedicated and passionate fans, players, and coaches that are not just the best in Korea but the best in the whole world. But the business models have not been very innovative.



You’ll see new and innovative approaches from us. I’m also very comfortable with taking risks because of my past experience in building a company - from nothing - over the past 10 years with many near-death experiences. And it’s a lot of fun for me to try something out and do something that hasn’t been proven. We’ll try out the revenue streams you talked about, but we’ll do it differently from how it’s done today.





(To Kevin and Phillip) Will you construct your own e-stadiums? Or will you take advantage of already existing ones in Korea [such as OGN's Sangam Studio]?



Kevin: First of all, for the first season or two in Seoul, we will use the already existing facilities, and our plan is to fill and expand. But if demand reaches a certain point, we will expand and build our own venue. At the same time, we want to work with the city of Seoul and the national government to build a world-class training facility to produce world-class talents, and potentially our own venue as well.



Phillip: [In response to the question about the business model] One thing that’s very special about this league and how it’s set up is that it’s global. Just like how the Korean figure skater, Yuna Kim, became famous not only in Korea but also worldwide, we believe our players will follow the same path. So that presents a bigger opportunity for us on the global stage.





(To Nate) You mentioned how you will foster the whole ecosystem. In terms of Korea, there are several teams that believe they’ve given their best at building teams and growing players. Currently, they’re fearful that their top players will be taken by the Overwatch League. If some players are still contracted with existing teams, will there be payments made to the existing teams when taking the players?



Nate: Those are private discussions between different parties. Blizzard and the league are not directly involved in the discussions that are happening between OWL team owners and existing teams, so I don’t have anything I can comment on for that. But to my earlier point - as the league grows and evolves - I expect that we’ll have clearly defined rules in place for how player movement happens between different levels of play.





(To Nate, Phillip, and Kevin) Recently, Blizzard announced the minimum salary for the players participating in the Overwatch League. How will the other staff members [such as coaches] benefit from the league?



Nate: We want to create a very professional league. And so coaches, cooks, and everyone working behind the scene will be well taken care of. It’s really important to us that we partner with owners that have the same goal of really professionalizing an esport from top to bottom as we wish to. We’re going to see great treatment for all of the staff members of the team as well, but it’s not a part of the minimum structure we’ve set up for the players. And as for the actual players themselves, we want to create an atmosphere for them in which they feel like they have an actual stable "career." I expect that the staff will be treated the same way. Anything to add? (to Phil and Kevin)



Phillip: Kevin and I spent a lot of time talking to coaches and players here and it’s very collaborative. We have nothing to announce today but it’s a very collaborative process – it's not just us coming here and telling them to do something. We will work with local players and coaches to figure it out.







(To Kevin) The previous question was about if there will be any compensation if players are taken into the Overwatch League. Nate mentioned that it's between teams and team owners, so do you have an answer for that question?



Kevin: We definitely want to make sure that the current team owners get [monetarily] compensated for creating and developing talents. We want to cooperate with the existing teams so that they don't feel that we are going past them and straight to recruiting. A lot of this is about developing long-term partnerships with local teams and other organizations – that’s the kind of mindset we have for how we want to build the business.





(To Nate) There is some concern among fans that Korean players will overrun the scene like with StarCraft. OWL may lose its "color" in regards to it being a global league. Will there be limitations for how many players from each region can play for a certain team?



Nate: It's true that Korea does have many great players. But so do Europe and NA. What we want is a league that is filled with world-class players, regardless of where they are from – this is a very crucial requirement for OWL to be the premier professional league for Overwatch. We don't plan to region-lock as of now. Overwatch is a very global game, and we expect that the players in the OWL will similarly be from all around the world. We will monitor as the league evolves and see how it goes.





▲ The goal is to create a league filled with world-class players



(To Nate) You announced a minimum salary. What about a salary cap?



Nate: We haven’t announced details about that yet, but we want to make sure there’s something in place to address this. It’s important for any franchise sports league to have rules in place for competitive parity. We haven’t disclosed those details, but we may do that in the future.





(To Nate) How will broadcasting take place for Overwatch League?



Nate: Like most sports leagues, we will have our matches broadcasted all over the world. For the Korean fans, we will have the games broadcasted live in Korean for them. Also, we will try and schedule the games for the Seoul team to be played when Korea is active so that they will be able to tune in. And at the team level, the Seoul team will be creating a lot of content for the Korean audience. We do not have details to share right now regarding what platforms will be involved, but there will be more news as we get closer to the launch of the league.





(To Nate) Each regional team can host 5 amateur events per year. Is this mandatory?



Nate: It is not mandatory. It is a right. Phillip and Kevin can probably jump in and add more, but what I can say is that this event will most likely be used by owners to engage with their fanbase. Team owners are excited about this, and so are we. It will be interesting to see how teams will take advantage of this license.





(To Nate, Kevin, and Phillip) Can APEX players join these amateur events?



Nate: We’ll approach this on a case-by-case basis depending on what the plan is for the event. These events will be focusing on players that are not in the OWL.



Kevin: We are definitely going to be experimenting and working with the community. We will be showcasing all of the existing local talents, and we will also be discovering new ones through this event. We will make these events important for the fans. We could work with celebrities who are really into Overwatch. Expect us to run all five a year and make them must-attend events.



Phillip: We will make these very exciting for the fans. It will be a celebration of the fans, Korean culture, Korean music – a strong Korean-style event.





(To Nate) Can there be multiple teams for one city?



Nate: For Seoul, for season 1, this is the Seoul team (Kevin and Phil). We haven’t thought about what that could be in the future, as we’re focused on adding more cities around the world right now. But this is the Seoul team right now.



We will have more announcements soon about additional teams in the OWL. We don’t have anything to announce today, but there will be in the future.





(To Nate) How will the players be taken care of for away matches? They may experience possible exhaustion from frequently traveling.



Nate: How is it that I can fly to Korea for this and not be physically exhausted? [Laughs] On a serious note, travel is a part of being a pro athlete and there’s going to be some challenges with that. But I still think this is more of an opportunity than a challenge. It's an opportunity for them to connect with more fans around the world. We will take measures at the league level from a scheduling standpoint to minimize the challenge as much as possible. These guys are professional players. They will be well compensated and they will be well taken care of, and it will be a mark of the best teams in the world that they can physically and emotionally deal with the travel.





(To Kevin) What are your expectations for the 1st season of Overwatch League in terms of the size of viewership? What is the ultimate long term vision?



Kevin: We will be playing in LA for the first season, so the studio will be a bit smaller [than Korea]. Also, we won't be hosting those events [Blizzard will]. In general, I think the global interest will be high in terms of viewership, and I will definitely be excited to see the number of viewers during that time.



For the second season, hopefully, we will be playing at home. It will be hard for us to make a guess on how many fans will show up for the matches. But from seeing how APEX and other leagues have been so popular, I think we have a strong opportunity to attract thousands of fans for our live events as well.



We expect to win the championship for Seoul in season 1, and then in the following year, fans will be very excited. Our intent is to put together a team that will win.



