The shine of a new future for Overwatch esports has already been tarnished by another wave of esports industry layoffs, this time via Activision Blizzard laying off several longtime members of the OWL broadcast and talent teams—and reportedly its esports team at large.
Included in these layoffs are commentator Matt “Mr. X” Morello and host/analyst Salome “Soe” Gschwind-Repp, two of the most recognizable faces from the OWL who were featured on the broadcast since the league’s inaugural season in 2018.
Morello, who said he had been working behind the scenes to help plan the new Overwatch Champion Series announced just last week, says he hopes to “stay involved” with Overwatch in some capacity. Soe said she was saddened her time was cut short but hinted that she was perhaps expecting the news as she was “ready for [the] call with champagne.”
Morello and Soe are just two of reportedly 60 people who have been laid off from Blizzard’s esports divisions, affecting those who worked on both Overwatch and the Call of Duty League. Several broadcasters and observers have been let go. Several CDL employees were just informed of their laid-off status days after returning from working the Boston Major.
According to CDL reporter Jacob Hale, there are only 12 full-time employees in the entire esports division at Activision Blizzard now. The company as a whole was largely affected by Microsoft’s layoffs of roughly 1,900 employees across gaming divisions just last week, which itself is just one of several instances of mass layoffs across gaming companies to kick off 2024.
For Morello, Soe, and the other employees who worked on Overwatch, the news must feel like a gut punch given that it was delivered just a week after the announcement of a new open circuit system, the Overwatch Champion Series, breathed some new life and excitement into a scene that had been dormant for months.
