Overwatch exodus continues as Splyce release team

Splyce has joined the ranks of major esports organisations to drop out of the Overwatch pro scene, with Splyce’s CEO Marty Strenczewilk announcing that Splyce is releasing their Overwatch roster and “taking a step back” from the scene.

CompLexity, Denial and Red Reserve have all ditched their Overwatch teams over the last few days, all citing fluidity and a lack of predictability to the scene as deciding factors over pulling out of the league.

For Splyce, it seems that the problem is money. Yesterday rumours broke that Overwatch League slots were being sold to NFL franchise owners, with asking prices somewhere in the $20m mark, a figure that right now would be nearly impossible for teams to recoup.

That sort of price could push many endemic brands out of the bidding, meaning we could see a lot of independent esports organisations stepping away from Overwatch as big-money investors start to colonise the league.

Strenczewilk took to YouTube to discuss the idea and mentions that the lack of major competitions is hurting the scene right now, although he does believe in the competitive scene’s future.

“There’s a couple of $5-10K online cups every so often, but that’s about it,” said Strenczewilk in the video.

“Outside of that, there isn’t much competitive Overwatch and that’s been challenging for our players. It’s been challenging for us in growing a fanbase around the game, and so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep investing resources in the title currently.”