Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Overwatch League Commissioner Nate Nanzer moves to Epic Games, Fortnite esports

By

Nate Nanzer, the commissioner of the Overwatch League since it launched in January 2018, is leaving his post to move to Epic Games to oversee competitive Fortnite.

Nanzer revealed his departure from Blizzard and the Overwatch League on Twitter, in a heartfelt message to the staff, teams, and fans of the esports league.

Recommended Videos

I can’t emphasize enough how proud I am of what we’ve all accomplished together. It has been the honor of my life to have been part of the team that helped build the league of #breakthrough, #BurnBlue, #pdomjnate, #CaptureHistory, #OWL2019, and many more. 2/4

— Nate Nanzer (@natenanzer) May 25, 2019

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. 4/4

— Nate Nanzer (@natenanzer) May 25, 2019

ESPN confirmed that after Nanzer leaves the Overwatch League next week, he will oversee competitive esports at Epic Games, the developer behind the massively popular Battle Royale shooter Fortnite.

Replacing Nanzer as Overwatch League Commissioner will be Pete Vlastelica, a former Fox Sports executive vice president who is currently President and CEO of Activision Blizzard Esports Leagues. That group is also building a Call of Duty league that is set to launch in 2020, with former NFL vice president Johanna Faires set to serve as commissioner.

Nanzer, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, and other executives including Vlastelica, were among the co-founders of the Overwatch League, working in 2016 to recruit 12 buyers for franchises in the esports league at $20 million each.

Since the inaugural season that started in January 2018, the Overwatch League has gone mainstream with broadcasts on networks such as ESPN, ABC, and Disney. Earlier this year, Nanzer confirmed that starting 2020, the teams will start hosting matches in their home markets instead of playing all the games in a facility in Burbank, California, as the esports league takes another page out of the traditional sports playbook.

With Nanzer at the helm, the Overwatch League built itself into a leader in the value of league-based sponsorship sales, ESPN said, citing sources familiar with the finances of the top esports leagues.

In his move to Epic Games, Nanzer inherits Fortnite, a game that has withstood challenges from various fronts, but a competitive esports scene that has been besieged by cheating. For example, in just the first week of the Fortnite World Cup, Epic Games said that it had banned 1,221 accounts for various offenses.

Epic Games specifically said that Nanzer will be working on Fortnite esports, but there is also a possibility that he will lend a hand with Rocket League. Earlier this month, Epic Games acquired Psyonix, the developer behind the vehicular soccer game that has a robust competitive scene.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
Contributor
Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…
Riot Games to hold its first mobile esports tournament for Wild Rift
League of Legends characters inside the Wild Rift.

Riot Games announced its first international tournament, for League of Legends: Wild Rift, in Singapore this year. The Wild Rift Horizon Cup will cap off the 2021 preseason and will begin on November 13, with the finals on November 21. This is Riot Games' first mobile gaming esports tournament.

Eight regions from around the world are already competing in their regional tournaments to qualify for the Wild Rift Horizon Cup. The top 10 teams from the regional qualifiers will head to the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Center to compete for the international title. The prize pool and the format of the tournament are yet to be announced.

Read more
Esports will be medaled events at the Asian Games 2022
League of Legends characters

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced that eight video games will be included as medaled events for the Asian Games 2022. The games will be Street Fighter V, Hearthstone, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile Asian Games Version, Dota 2, League of Legends, Arena of Valor Asian Games Version, EA Sports FIFA, and Dream Three Kingdom 2.

The Asian Games is a continental multisport event that is held every four years where athletes from Asia compete against each other in various sports for medals. It is very similar to the Olympics, however, it focuses solely on Asia. Video games have been part of the Asian Games in the past, but mainly were only demonstration events, so the medals won during these events were not counted toward countries' medal total.

Read more
Riot Games picks League of Legends World Championship’s host cities for 2021
A crowd gathered at the 2019 League of Legends World Championship.

League of Legends developer Riot Games has announced the five cities that will host this year's League of Legends World Championship. The tournament will take place in the Chinese cities of Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Shenzen.

The League of Legends World Championship takes place every year and pits the top teams from 12 regional leagues against each other. Every year, the location for this tournament changes regions and different cities host various events at different stages.

Read more