As part of a multi-year deal with Google, Blizzard esports will be broadcast exclusively on YouTube Gaming going forward. The CoD League, Overwatch League, Hearthstone Grandmasters, WoW Mythic Dungeon Invitational, and others will no longer be broadcast on Twitch. When the Overwatch League kicks off its next season on February 8, you'll only be able to watch the matches via youtube.com/overwatchleague.
By partnering with Google, Activision Blizzard is switching its servers from Amazon Web Service (AWS) to Google Cloud. According to the official press release, this is expected to provide better latency and less packet loss to ensure the best possible gaming experience for players. What this will mean for WoW servers, for example, is not yet clear.
The deal with Google is most likely very lucrative, but also carries a risk. It remains to be seen whether die-hard Twitch users will follow their Blizzard esports on Youtube Gaming overnight and, for example, even notice that Hearthstone tournaments are taking place if they are no longer advertised on their preferred platform.
The Overwatch community in particular seems to regret the switch from Twitch to Youtube. Because even those who weren't that interested in the games still kept the Overwatch League stream on the side to secure in-game items via Twitch Drops. The same goes for Hearthstone and the associated card packs you got for watching the Grandmasters League. A model like Twitch Drops is not yet known for Youtube. In addition, the special emotes for the Overwatch League are dropped, for which viewers have spent real money.
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