The Overwatch League playoffs will no longer be held in Texas in front of a live audience, and the Grand Final won’t be in Los Angeles.
OWL announced on Twitter Wednesday evening that it would pivot back to online competition and using Hawaii for the postseason after learning not all teams would be able to make it to the United States.
An update on #OWL2021 postseason. pic.twitter.com/yUNQyT2rKd
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) August 26, 2021
In the tweet, which quotes OWL Vice President Jon Spector, the league stated that the teams in Asia may not have been able to get to the United States with their full rosters. The original plan was for the playoffs to be starting Sept. 16 at Esports Stadium Arlington, with the Grand Final on Sept. 25 at Galen Center in Los Angeles.
The Call of Duty League, which is also under the Activision Blizzard umbrella, recently held a major tournament and its Championship at both venues, but none of the 12 teams were located outside of North America.
This means the West teams, including the Dallas Fuel, would be traveling to Hawaii for playoff competition while the eight teams in the East compete from home. This was done for the four regular season tournaments throughout the season.
While this is a big loss for fans hoping to see top-tier playoff Overwatch live, it also provides a safe alternative as COVID-19 continues to cause problems in North Texas.
The playoffs are still coming, and the Fuel have a Sept. 16 date for their next match. But live events in Overwatch will have to wait until at least the 2022 season.
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