The fight between former Overwatch League broadcast talent and Blizzard still rages on. Just when you think it’s about to die out (and it really should at this point), something happens and we’re back to square one. The most recent kerfuffle came after Overwatch League VP Jon Spector told ESPN’s Jacob Wolf that Blizzard couldn’t be happier with the broadcast talent they ended up with because they’re all professionals who “live and breathe the game.”

It didn’t take long for former casters to chime in, starting with Auguste “Semmler” Massonnat.

“‘People who live and breath this game’ equals ‘people who specialized in our game that we can low-ball thanks to our monopolistic hold on the scene and/or their dependence on us for visas,'” he said on Twitter.

Before we delve any deeper into this most recent mini-debacle, let’s go over what actually happened beforehand. Blizzard has been getting a lot of flack for the way they treated a couple of their casters and, to be fair, they deserve the hate for not handling things better.

Then again, they really did nothing inherently wrong.

Malik Forté, a former host and interviewer, wanted a pay raise. Blizzard didn’t give him one. He then decided to move on and look for greener pastures.

Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles and Erik “DoA” Lonnquist wanted bigger creative input (along with, one can assume, a pay raise). Blizzard didn’t want to relinquish any part of their creative control, and the legendary casting duo decided to part ways.

Semmler presumably wanted a pay raise as well but couldn’t get one (or was at least unwilling to receive a pay cut). As a result, he’ll now go back to casting Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

In all of these “exchanges,” Blizzard did nothing out of the ordinary. One could argue that they were selfish and unwilling to pay their casters as much as they deserved, but then again, it’s all about negotiating. The four individuals listed above tried their hardest and failed — Blizzard knew they had more than enough talent within their line-up, so why pay anyone more than they have to?

Saying that these former casters escaped from “Blizzard’s evil grasp” would imply that their current broadcasting talent are nothing more than weak, naive chumps who couldn’t find success elsewhere. Now, is Blizzard perfect? Absolutely not, and no one would be surprised if they really are playing the “visa game” to a certain extent.

In fact, that’s probably what’s going on as well, seeing how the majority of their broadcast talent isn’t from the United States.

But that’s business. Or at least that’s how the majority of companies do business. It’s cold, it’s ruthless, and if you’re on the receiving end of things you have the right to complain. Still, there’s a difference between taking the high road (like Malik did), and spouting condescending, bitter, and resentful opinions which are obviously the result of a bruised ego (*cough* Monte *cough*).

If the OWL casters who left the broadcast team have a message, they certainly didn’t get it across the right way

Their tweets and interviews have shifted the focus from Blizzard’s shady business practices to themselves and the way they handled this injustice. That’s perhaps the biggest problem, that amidst all the chaos, Blizzard’s low-balling and bully-like behavior won’t get as much attention (and hate) as it deserves.

Then again, no one’s overly surprised when Blizzard makes the headlines after doing something atrocious and/or stupid. They’ve been a sinking ship for years, in no small part because of Activision’s interference. The Diablo: Immortal debacle, the way they killed off Heroes of the Storm, the many layoffs which happened last years, and so on.

They even “forgot” about the Russian team that was supposed to cast the Overwatch League.

The Russian casters for @overwatchleague were given no heads up that they wouldn't be picked up again this year.



"We were asked to wait for the official announcement, but as you can see, the announcement did not happen, they simply forgot about us. " pic.twitter.com/mLi5d4M0Db — Andy Bohan #Underdogs 🇮🇪 (@andygmb1) February 9, 2020

How they can be so incompetent (or negligent) at this point with so much money being involved is anyone’s guess. All of the hate they’ve been getting is justified, and yet it feels like they’re turning a blind eye, regardless of who’s complaining.

That said, the feeling you get after reading all the hate is that Blizzard really dropped the ball and ended up with a sub-par broadcast team. In reality, however, that couldn’t be farther from the truth because they were able to retain all of their most precious assets.

Mitch “Uber” Leslie and Matt “Mr X” Morello, Wolf “Wolf” Schröder and Seth “Achilios” King, Robert “Hexagrams” Kirkbride, Jonathan “Reinforce” Larsson, Brennon “Bren” Hook and Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson, with Soe Gschwind taking over hosting duties from Chris Puckett and Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez, both of whom will still make sporadic appearances as live, on-site MCs.

New full-time additions include Andrew “ZP” Rush, Jack “Jaws” Wright, Jacob “Jake” Lyon, and Scott “Custa” Kennedy.

Talk about a stacked line-up!

Losing a few high-profile veterans didn’t stop Blizzard from bringing over a couple of exceptional endemic casters who were already known quantities. Heck, some of them should have been a part of the team from the very beginning, but better late than never.

Was Blizzard wrong to not try harder to keep their former talent crew? No, it's just business and there's nothing wrong with bringing in new talent 64%, 14 votes 14 votes 64% 14 votes - 64% of all votes

Yes, this just proves they don't care about their employees 36%, 8 votes 8 votes 36% 8 votes - 36% of all votes Total Votes: 22 Voting is closed Poll Options are limited because JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

Is Blizzard cutting corners?

The answer is a resounding “yes.” Then again, it’s not like they lost their most respected and sought-after casters.

Semmler is a veteran but he never transitioned into Overwatch particularly well and was often considered one of the worst casters the League had to offer. Monte and DoA are basically in the same boat. They’re veterans in every sense of the word and they’ve been casting Overwatch ever since its inception but simply weren’t that engaging (at least not when compared to their colleagues). Monte wanted more control and input (which is a natural urge from someone who’s invested in the scene) but was quickly shut down, whereas DoA’s penchant for forgetting player and ability names certainly didn’t paint him as a professional.

Monte was arguably the loudest of the bunch after leaving the Overwatch League and his reactions are certainly justified to a certain extent. Then again, his tweets and musings reek of entitlement. His contribution to the scene is immense but his own personality and way of doing things always rubbed people the wrong way which did him more bad than good. Again, the things he said and the way in which he said them brought attention to himself and his own personality, rather than the many problems plaguing Blizzard and their franchised league.

This means that the Overwatch League lost three veteran casters who were replaced by younger talents. Out with the old, in with the new! These “replacements” — while less experienced — are in no way less capable or entertaining.

All of this brings us to Jon Spector’s words; that one sentence that seemed to rub people the wrong way.

Now sure, his statements can be read as an attempt to undermine the folks who left the Overwatch League, but at the same time, the things he said are true. The broadcast team never had this many talented and knowledgeable individuals, not to mention former pro players who can provide insight from first-hand experience. That’s invaluable and, frankly, the team is better this year.

Finally, what was Jon supposed to say? Of course he’s going to say these things — anyone in their right mind would do the same. You’re not going to downplay your recent acquisitions or romanticize about the way things were before. Blizzard is focused on what’s happening right now, and after a successful first weekend of play, they really don’t have a reason to worry about not delivering entertainment-wise.

Jon’s statements are a reflection of that. They shouldn’t be read as a “veiled insult” by default because, if their management and recent decision-making is any indication, they couldn’t care less for the folks who left the team. That’s not exactly a good way to do business, but it’s the way things are, at least with Blizzard.

Will such an approach eventually spiral out of control and negatively affect the rest of the team as well? It very well could, but so far, Blizzard has found nothing but success after losing their most seasoned broadcast talent.