Fan uses video to explain frustrations with Overwatch’s Path-to-Pro system
For players and fans of tier 2 and 3 teams outside of the Overwatch League, sometimes it can seem like they’ve been forgotten about, a feeling one fan has reflected in a recent Youtube video.
The video visualizes Blizzard’s support for the Overwatch League and the perceived lack of support for Contenders and Open Division using footage from the anime Hunter x Hunter.
Some of the problems with the Path-to-Pro system are low prize pools, lack of exposure, poor funding and cronyism, according to the video.
Current Contender’s teams are shown as refugees in the bombed out remains of lower-tier professional Overwatch, and Contenders players who haven’t found a team yet are represented by a pile of skulls.
Low prize pools for Open Division events are also lampooned and so is the lack of investors and media interest in the lower divisions.
Overwatch League and their academy teams along with Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan and his loot boxes are shown enjoying the finer things, while Open Division and Contenders teams are left out in the cold.
The video ultimately accuses Overwatch’s Path-to-Pro of being nothing more than a meme, getting no support from Blizzard and leaving players “hungry and homeless.”
Fans of Overwatch Contenders and Open Division have been complaining about what they say is Blizzards lack of support for the lower professional tiers for a while now, arguing that if Contenders is allowed to go downhill, the Overwatch League won’t be far behind.