The London Spitfire mounted an enormous comeback to win stage one of the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, and fans are now looking forward to the action and drama that stage two will offer.
Blizzard, however, has apparently set its sights further into the future, with planning already underway for the second season of the Overwatch League.
London Spitfire: Your Overwatch League Stage 1 Winners
The final day of stage one for the first season of the Overwatch League ended with the London Spitfire on top. The London Spitfire lost the first two maps in its finals match against the New York Excelsior, but came roaring back to win with a final score of 3-2.
"Losing the first two maps, we thought, 'Hey, we couldn't let it end like this,'" said London Spitfire tank player Hong "Gesture" Jae-Hee. "We rallied back and won a game. After that, we were like, 'Hey, it's 2-1. Might as well.'"
For their amazing play, the London Spitfire will take home $100,000. Outside of the prize and bragging rights though, winning stage one will have no impact for the rest of the season. The Overwatch League season one is made up of four stages before heading into the playoffs, where the top team of each division based on the overall record across all stages gets a bye week.
The four best teams outside of the division winners, regardless of division, will also enter the playoffs, culminating in the awarding of the first Overwatch League champions.
The Overwatch League will now take a break, when the teams will be able to sign new players while preparing for a new metagame. The matches will resume on Feb. 21.
Overwatch League Expansion For Season 2
While viewers wait for stage two of the first season of Overwatch League to start, Blizzard is already looking ahead to the second season.
Next month, Overwatch League executives will again be hitting the road to try to get more franchises to sign up. This was the same thing that they did about a year ago, with the major difference this year being the proven success of the Overwatch League.
However, it will be harder now for franchises to buy in to the Overwatch League. Last year's Overwatch League franchise fee of $20 million already raised eyebrows, but Blizzard said that it will even be higher for season two. Sources revealed that it is expected to be between $35 million to $60 million, which is nearly double to triple the amount paid by the original 12 teams.
