Commissioner Nate Nanzer leaves Overwatch League

#1

Calamari96

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Good for him, but I feel a bit sad considering how well OWL has gone with him at the helm. Blizz did really well with his hire.

#2

DixR

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So he leaves Owl for a mediocre esport scene?

#3

robokun87

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And OW isn't mediocre? I mean outside of the OWL there's pretty much fuck all and even that is a Korean goastfest, how long do you honestly think that will last before people are done? this guy left a job this big clearly knowing the future of OW is bleak.

Still, I'd rather have competitive OW over Fortnite, I mean how the hell do you even make that game "competitive". One game has all the potential yet ruined by a dictatorship and the other has no potential.

Oh there goes the downvote :D love it, keep em coming.

#4

DixR

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Owl, 5 Contenders regions, Pacific and Atlantic Showdown, Gauntlet, World Cup, but yeah Ow Esport is mediocre. Also, Nate didnt join Epic because Ow is dead (since 2016 btw) , but because he received a truck load of money from Epic. And I agree, Fortnite has no potential as an esport, thats why I said its mediocre.

#6

robokun87

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Aye OW e-sports is in an amazing place full of good LAN events right? having a bunch of contenders regions doesn't make it a good e-sports title when there's fuck all money involved for the teams and only the Asia region has a LAN final I believe?

Teams are dropping left and right, players are retiring at a rate faster than any other "big" e-sports and now Nate Nanzer leaves and you think this bodes well? how much did the guy get to move to Fortnite since he only went for the truck load of money?

OW is mediocre still, the WorldCup is on LAN once a year and the OWL has been played at small events for the last 2 years and you honestly can't sit there and tell me you actually enjoy watching the same teams playing goats every few days. I mean there's nothing wrong with being mediocre really it's not like there's a bunch of better e-sports games out there but when people act like OW is big or the OWL has been a success I do wonder what they base that on.

#14

murasaki

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it rlly do b like that sometimes
shame he went to fortnite tho

#15

robokun87

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I mean Fortnite is still mega popular and in the right hands can shit all over OW in terms of e-sports popularity, Epic Games have no issues with pumping money into e-sports whereas Blizzard have always been tight as fuck across every game they have released so honestly I'm very much looking forward to how this goes.

#34

murasaki

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idk if ur up to date with fortnite esports (i certainly am not) but last time i looked people were really disatisfied with the devs basically putting stupid gamebreaking shit in just before tournaments as well as poor server quality at tournaments.

for all the money epic has i dont think theyre managing fortnite any better than blizzard are managing overwatch

#5

Shun

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OWL is about to get into the hardest part of its existence. Home games and logistics of worldwide sport. Will the teams really make back this money they invested? Definitely hard to be in management going forward if it goes south. Wise of him to move on I guess?

#7

robokun87

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He either didn't have the bottle for the fight ahead or predicted it will flop and jumped ship, as much as I'm not a fan of the way OW has been ran e-sports wise I am absolutely dying to see the home and away matches take place to see how it all fairs out and what it does for the future of the game.

#8

gomak

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not a good look

#9

ponyslayer69

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probably knows something we don't know and thats why he pissed off for more money.
like lets be honesty with the things they have planned, i never see this forced move actually work out.

#10

trashplayer

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paid front crowd, 50% viewers only afk to get coins. i mean this league is doomed.

#11

DixR

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Would love to see your sources for those claims. Oh right you dont have any, sorry.

#12

robokun87

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I'd also liked to see your sources where the only reason he took the job at Epic was because of the truck load of money.

#17

DixR

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Oh IDK, the numerous times Epic gave money to game studios to get their games on their store?

#19

robokun87

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And them getting games on the Epic store is the same as hiring a guy to lead your e-sports division? I mean there's no way in a billion years he left because he thought the OWL was going to shit and wanted a better job right? it could only be for the money 100% because that's how the world works, no doubt.

#21

DixR

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So Epic went out of their way to hire a guy who made a crappy Esport? They hired him because Owl is succesful af

#22

robokun87

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And Nate went out of his way to join a crappy e-sport after making OWL successful AF because he got paid so little by the league he needed a better option at the expense of a "mediocre e-sports" title? sounds legit.

I'm not really sure how people can say something is successful when it's not even running at full capacity yet, we don't even have home and away games yet but because 90k people tune in every stream that instantly makes it successful? even though the games are being played out in front of what, 500 people?

I hope it is successful to set a new benchmark for e-sports since I have followed it for 20 years (e-sports that is) but honestly, until we get home and away matches and they are able to fill out a lot more than 500 there is no way you, I or anyone can consider the OWL successful when you look at all the money that went into it.

Downvote away.

#13

zero

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Get your head out of your ass, DixR.

OWL is -viewership wise- a disappointment considering the playerbase. Just a matter of time before investors drop out.
The World Cup is joke, like in every other E-sports. There's no glory in winning a tournament where you cut basicially 75% of the best players.
Contenders is a tragedy.

#18

DixR

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2nd most watched Twitch channel is dissapointing? Owl worked so well that they added 8 teams instead of 6
What does that even mean?
Such a tragedy that they added more regions, Showdowns and Gauntlet.
Sit down

#23

robokun87

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Free shit, remember when CS:GO had betting and how many viewers it would have for even average tournaments compared to when it banned betting? I mean the majority will still be true fans but don't kid yourself thinking people either ain't using multiple accounts or afking for free shit.

#25

KuroiRyuu9625

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I somewhat understand the general sentiment but then again I also fail to understand your point with some of the specific things you mention.

Viewership numbers are something I can't speak to, because I don't know what the league considers "a disappointment"
I'm not sure I understand your issue with the world cup, you sound like you just dislike this type of event in Esports in general, so complaining about it specifically in regards to OWL doesn't make sense if that's the case. As for the glory of winning...well that's pretty subjective, and I think it brings the game to audiences that OWL may not have.
I agree that Contenders is in a bad place right now. Blizz needs to take action, which tbh I think could be as "simple" as either massively relaxing or removing the sponsorship restriction so that teams can at least get a chance to sustain themselves or maybe even profit if the opportunity is there.

I don't know man, most of this thread in general is just people overreacting and spitting meaningless "facts" either way.

#27

robokun87

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I mean to be fair, this is what a forum kind of is about, speculating and discussing what's going on, do we know the facts? no and we never will and I'm sure that applies to about 98% of the people involved in the OW scene so what else are we supposed to do? nobody claims to spit facts but all we can do is spill our opinions which is again, the purpose of a forum, sadly that seems to be lost either on this forum or in general nowadays.

I agree with your first point, what is considered a success and failure viewership wise, I mean 90k consitently for most games would be considered a success but when you look at the money involved you have to ask yourself, is it? these multi-millionaires who pumped millions into the OWL won't be happy with 90k on Twitch and 500 people in a small arena surely.

Blizzard needed to relax things from early on and let people host even smaller LAN events, how awesome was the TakeTV LANS back in the day? how many people get to watch a game live in the US or Korea especially? not many.

If Valve done to CS what Blizzard done to OW there is no way in a million years the game would be as big as it is now, it's about time Blizzard chill the fuck out and get rid of this dictatorship mentality and let the game breathe.

#28

KuroiRyuu9625

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Ah yes, the fabled Reddit approach. Ignorance isn't a license to spread outright misinformation because one thinks their opinion is worth more than another.

#29

robokun87

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Ah yes, the head up your arse approach, as I have already said neither of us, which btw includes you, the almighty god, know fuck all, the majority of what we (also you) spread is "misinformation", to me it's called opinions but to a stuck up sad git like you it's called misinformation. Perhaps you should try and chill out instead of thinking everything you read on the internet is 100% serious.

It's a forum for people to discuss things and communicate, you look at it like an underground conspiracy theory forum where we are intentionaly trying to create drama and fake news, I mean honestly mate I really do wonder what your problem is.

I know you're perfect and everything you post is 100% fact but please, lighten up.

#30

KuroiRyuu9625

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The only way I can respond to your comment is to shrug.

My point is that you can't throw wild claims out there then get upset that people don't agree with you or call you out for bull shitting, and that goes for both sides of the argument.

I've never claimed to know everything and I say, pretty often enough imo, that I do not know. Now, if that's reason for you to direct personal attacks my way then so be it, but I'll say it again, ignorance isn't a valid excuse.

#31

robokun87

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Waste of time.

#32

KuroiRyuu9625

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Shrug.

#16

Emaxmagnus

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This comment section is a salt mine

#20

ShanksTD

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Fingers crossed he goes on to work on the Rocket League pro scene and not Fortnite

#24

KuroiRyuu9625

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Ignoring most of the garbage being said on either side for a moment, this video talks a bit about him leaving and the impact (or the lack there of) it'll have on the league given what his role seemed to be:

Panda Stats with Defiant Analyst Barroi - Tactical Crouch Podcast Ep. 35

#26

wentaway

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Besides the salted sea that's this thread unless he states the actual reasons he decided to change company all we can do is speculation, and imo all the ones proposed are viable.

The money argument: Epic is injecting tons of cash into gaming, it makes sense for them to pay an experienced commissioner, it's a win-win, you get someone with experience while removing him from a competitor.

The "rat fleeing the sinking ship": OWL isn't popping off (not fast enough) as probably he would have expected, meanwhile Fortnite even without anything comparable to an actual league keeps getting tons of viewers.

There's also the very simple option... he was looking for a "change of scenery", change is one of the main motivators for human beings, new challanges are something that many succesful persons look for.

I personally (here comes my dose of salt) still believe they mishandled the launch of OWL, basically strangling their esport scene in the 2nd year of life of OW, they were lucky (?) Korea arrrived a bit late to the party and the duo OGN/Apex kicked in right when the western scene was dying.

From there it was an uphill struggle (again except for the KO scene) and it still is, the vision for OWL is grandious, but like everything grandious involves a lot of risks, risks not every investor might be willing to take.

GL to whoever will take his place, as for Nanzer... he doesn't need my good lucks.

#33

Hi

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oof, I guess I shouldn't visit this thread again....

#35

Shun

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I mean to be fair, this is what a forum kind of is about, speculating and discussing what's going on, do we know the facts? no and we never will and I'm sure that applies to about 98% of the people involved in the OW scene so what else are we supposed to do? nobody claims to spit facts but all we can do is spill our opinions which is again, the purpose of a forum, sadly that seems to be lost either on this forum or in general nowadays.

I appreciate the analysis that went into the thread though.

I can see why both sides might be right.

Viewership numbers are something I can't speak ti, because I don't know what the league considers "a disappointment"

Compared to other big twitch gaming events, viewership is mediocre. csgo/dota majors.

I feel the assumption that profits would be their end goal/success rating. And were already seeing some owners not being able to run a profit in the short-term--i.e. optic/outlaws. It should be seen as a long term investment, but how long-term sustainable is competitive OW... needs new players and needs to keep people playing. OW doesnt release #s of actual people playing in comp queues or in general. it could be ded game rating in a year or 2 but we would never know.