Korean broadcasters OGN has announced the cancellation of Overwatch APEX, the Korean league of the Overwatch circuit, with APEX being integrated into the revamped Overwatch Contenders circuit.

Since the fall of 2016, OGN was the organiser and broadcaster of Korea's premier tournament series. APEX ran for four seasons, alongside the APEX Challengers division, until last October.

OGN provided a statement to Inven Global regarding the cancellation of APEX:

Greetings, this is OGN.

First of all, we apologize to the fans who have supported , for not being able to continue our journey.

APEX was a competition that OGN had actively invested in so that Overwatch could be settled in the eSports scene. We did our best to make successful, and we also put in a lot of effort so that Overwatch may become a good eSports event.

We did our best and agreed to most of Blizzard’s conditions on continuing the competition, but we were notified that Blizzard was preparing a competition with another broadcast. Until that notification, OGN had been preparing for the next season, so we are very regretful.

However, OGN acknowledges Blizzard as a very important partner; we will continue to have a good relationship with them in the eSports scene and we respect and accept their decision.

We believe that if we are able to cooperate in the future, we will be able to make more game content into eSports.

The eSports production scene is infinitely contested, and big challenges were taken already, not only in Korea, but around the world as well. OGN will be putting in more effort to maintain our reputation as the origin of eSports, and with more active and innovative decisions, we will discover new eSports events that can lead a new era.

Thank you for supporting and please continue to support OGN.

According to a report from Sports Chosun, MBC Plus Media is set to secure broadcast rights for the Overwatch League and Contenders Korea. They also reported that negotiation issues between Blizzard and OGN might’ve been the cause for the change in broadcast partners.

With APEX now a thing of the past, and their handle over the League of Legends Championship Korea production soon to be transferred to Riot Games, OGN will now look towards their newest tournament, the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Survival Series.