Another team for the Overwatch League has officially been revealed and it’s a doozy. Acting as the only representative from Europe, the United Kingdom’s Team Spitfire is looking to dominate this esports tournament. The team is owned by the famed esports organization Cloud9, who has always had a strong presence within the competitive Overwatch scene. Spitfire’s logo is meant to homage a Royal Air Force plane of the same name that was first introduced in the late 1930s. This name is also a reference to Overwatch’s mascot Tracer who was a former RAF pilot.
Cloud9’s owner Jack Etienne released the following statement with this announcement: “We’re excited to represent London in the Overwatch League with the Spitfire. We’ve put together a fantastic team and are anxious to see them in action in the debut season of the Overwatch League early next year.”
The Minister of State for Digital, Matt Hancock also weighed in on London’s involvement in the Overwatch League. “British people have a great love of video games—the UK market for games was worth £4.3 billion in 2016 and is the fifth largest in the world. I’m looking forward to seeing the global phenomenon that is esports flourish in the UK, and it’s a great endorsement of the strength of the UK scene that the first official European Overwatch team has come to London. ”
Finally, we also got to hear from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan who remarked “London leads the world in creativity and cutting-edge technology and the city’s games and esports industry plays a major part in that success. Good luck to all those representing the capital on the London Spitfire team in the Overwatch League.”
In addition, we also got a look at the exclusive London Spitfire Tracer skin on their team mascot Tracer. The actual outfit itself looks fantastic and has clearly taken inspiration from Tracer’s Mach T Legendary skin.
Spitfire is the ninth team revealed for the Overwatch League and will be competing against:
- Huston Outlaws
- New York Excelsior
- Seoul Dynasty
- Boston Uprising
- Los Angeles Valiant
- San Fransico Shock
- Dallas Fuel
- Shanghai Dragons
For the unfamiliar, the Overwatch League is a unique competition that aims to combine traits from live sports and esports. Players will sign contracts, receive benefits, and can be recruited by team owners to join an organization. This is done via a talent pool where owners can pick and choose from the very best players.
With the competitive meta always shifting, it will be interesting to see what new strategies have been cooked up. Where things get intriguing is how the Overwatch League ends up ruling on the use of new heroes, game types, or maps. Given Blizzard is always introducing new content, how this will factor into the competitive scene will certainly be important.
The first season will not begin until early 2018, however, there is no official start date.
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