Intel And HP To Sponsor Blizzard's First Annual Overwatch eSports League
Overwatch is one of the most popular shooters on the planet, and has had some cool Halloween content for fans recently. It is also the basis for some of the biggest eSports tournaments out there. The game currently has about 35 million monthly players and thanks to its popularity, the Blizzard Entertainment Overwatch League has landed two major sponsors that have the pockets deep enough to offer up prize money to the gamers fighting for the win: HP and Intel.
HP has said that its Omen by HP gamer-centric brand will be a multi-year sponsor for the Overwatch League. The official announcement of the sponsorship was made at the BlizzCon 2017 event in California. With a brand like HP sponsoring the event, it goes without saying that all events will be played on HP Omen computers and monitors. League play kicks off on January 10 and there are 12 city-based teams that are part of the league with teams spread over the world. There are teams hailing from Asia, Europe, and North America set to participate.
"Working with Blizzard Entertainment as a global technology partner of the Overwatch League is the perfect way to celebrate esports talent and showcase our hardware within the competitive gaming arena," said Alex Craddock, global head of marketing for personal systems at HP, in a statement. "Omen hardware has been widely adopted by many of the world’s top esports professionals, and we’re thrilled to help power the gameplay for the Overwatch League."
This isn't the first event that HP has sponsored with Blizzard, HP is also a sponsor of the Overwatch World Cup. That event takes place at BlizzCon. HP and Intel also made it clear that they will be sponsoring additional Overwatch events in addition to the partnership for the Overwatch League.
"We’re thrilled to be joining forces with HP and Intel to ensure that the teams competing professionally in Overwatch are equipped with top-end technology," said Pete Vlastelica, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment’s MLG, in a statement. "Multi-year collaborations such as this illustrate the momentum behind the Overwatch League as well as a long-term commitment by us and our partners in what we see as the future of esports."
"Intel is a longtime supporter of the esports community and we’re always looking for ways to help improve how they play, watch, and compete. We’re proud to sponsor the Overwatch League and equip all competition PCs with the latest Intel Core i7 processors to contribute to a great experience for fans and competitors," said John Bonini, vice president and general manager of the VR, gaming, and esports group at Intel, in a statement. "The Overwatch League will be a great showcase of the future of esports, and we’re excited to be a part of it with Blizzard."
