The houses of Overwatch League Homestands are back. Today, announced the Overwatch League The casals (live match events) will return during the 2021 season, but only in China.
“Due to improved safety and health conditions in China, we are pleased to announce the expected return of live events to three cities during the 2021 season,” the announcement read.
Live events were supposed to be the cornerstone of the 2020 season, but the plan was shut down when the covid-19 pandemic stopped large public gatherings around the world. Since then, the League has switched to an online-only schedule and most of the 2021 matches will still be played online. However, three Chinese teams will host three of the four tournament qualifying matches of the season in live venues not yet announced.
- June 4-6: Hangzhou Spark (June June)
- July 9-11: Shanghai Dragons (Summer Showdown)
- August 7-8: Guangzhou charge (Countdown Cup)
Only teams based in China (Hangzhou Spark, Guangzhou Charge, Chengdu Hunters, Shanghai Dragons and Los Angeles Valiant) will participate in these live matches. If a team based in China is scheduled against any of the teams based in Korea (Seoul Dynasty, New York Excelsior or Philadelphia Fusion), the Chinese team will play on stage while their opponents connect remotely via the League cloud tournament server. Host teams will announce details about tickets and venues at a later time.
The resumption of live events only in China is interesting considering at the beginning of last year’s season, all Homestands in China were canceled, while a handful of Homestand events could be held at North America before the pandemic changed to play online. It is also interesting that this news comes soon after Blizzard fired a part of the live event sports staff a month ago.