The Overwatch League (OWL) is losing several top-class talents. In addition to the commentator duo Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles and Erik “DoA” Lonnquist, host Chris Puckett is also throwing in the towel. The reasons for this are creative differences and salary cuts.
For the Overwatch League the latest developments are a serious blow. With MonteCristo and DoA an extremely popular commentator duo is leaving the league. In addition, Puckett, Auguste “Semmler” Massonat and Malik Forté will no longer be on board.
The main reason for this is drastic salary cuts that Activision Blizzard wanted to push through. In an interview with Dexerto, several unnamed talents stated that they had been offered cuts of up to 30 percent.
Talents no longer have a lobby
According to Dexerto research, the current situation resulted from the fact that Commissioner Nate Nanzer left the league. In the past, Nanzer has been a strong advocate for the Talents, who were to suffer salary losses at the start of the second OWL season – even though the goals of the first season were far exceeded. Nanzer had still prevented this from happening.
Since his departure, he said, no one has stood up for the interests of commentators, moderators and analysts. The new Commissioner Pete Vlastelica, CEO of the Activision Esports Leagues, does not seem to be holding his hand over the talents.
MonteCristo also accuses Vlastelica of having lied about how the situation was presented. In an interview, the commissioner had stated that the league had decided to part with the casts and hosts, not the other way around. MonteCristo contradicts this representation in a tweet.
