One of the biggest names behind the Overwatch League is moving on. Last night Nate Nanzer, commissioner of the Overwatch League, announced that he’s leaving Blizzard “for a new opportunity.” ESPN has since confirmed that Nanzer will be joining Epic Games to oversee e-sports at the Fortnite developer. Pete Vlastelica, CEO of Activision Blizzard’s e-sports division, will take charge as the next OWL commissioner.
The Overwatch League’s commissioner has jumped to Epic Games
Nate Nanzer moves from Overwatch to Fortnite
Nate Nanzer moves from Overwatch to Fortnite
is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
“I get way too much credit for the success of the Overwatch League,” Nanzer wrote on Twitter. “It’s been awesome to be our public face, but too many overestimate my role in making the league great. It isn’t about me; it’s never been. It’s about all of you. That’s why I’m confident the league is in great hands. I can’t wait to see where the team takes the Overwatch League in 2020 — and beyond. And I’ll be cheering right there alongside you, every step of the way.”
“I’m confident the league is in great hands.”
The Overwatch League was first announced in 2016, with an ambitious vision for an e-sports league that mimicked traditional sports, complete with teams based in major cities around the world. This pitch managed to lure big-name owners, and Nanzer was a driving force behind this, as well as other important league initiatives, including scheduling changes designed to improve player wellness.
The league is currently in the midst of its second season, and preparing to move teams to home arenas for season 3. “Pretty much all we think about in the office these days is figuring out the operational complexity of operating a home-and-away e-sports league,” Nanzer told The Verge last year. Following OWL’s early success, Activision is also building a similarly structured league for professional Call of Duty, which is expected to launch next year.
Epic, meanwhile, has made e-sports a major focus for Fortnite’s continued growth. The developer dedicated $100 million for the game’s competitive circuit, which includes $30 million in prize money for the upcoming Fortnite World Cup finals in New York this summer. More recently, Epic acquired Psyonix, the developer behind car-meets-soccer game Rocket League, which already has a robust competitive scene, attracting big-name teams from traditional sports like Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona.
“We’re excited to welcome Nate to the Epic Games team, where he’ll be working with us on competitive Fortnite,” Epic said in a statement to ESPN.
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