Overwatch League team Chengdu Hunters has reportedly disbanded, confirming rumors surrounding the Chinese team. There have been rumors for some time that the line-up will not stay the same.
Now the Overwatch players have either switched to another team or are free agents. The team was not included in the Overwatch League roster at the start of the season. According to some reports, the Chengdu Hunters have disbanded. However, these reports have not yet been officially confirmed by the organization.
The end of the Chengdu Hunters?
The news doesn’t come as a huge shock to fans, who were anticipating the Chinese team’s exit from the Overwatch League. The team was not part of this year’s schedule.
In mid-April, the League issued a statement on the situation, saying it would share more information about the fortunes of the franchise going forward. The announcement said the Chengdu Hunters were considering the fate and “future direction” of the team. Since then, the team has been quiet and fans can only speculate about how things will continue.
Goodbye and see you again. pic.twitter.com/rNzukKbYBU
— Chengdu Hunters (@ChengduHunters) January 23, 2023
Problems since NetEase drama
The Chengdu Hunters have not been active on social media since January, the last post was posted on Twitter in January and did not bode well: “Goodbye and see you again,” the organization posted. That was also the day that Overwatch 2 and all other Blizzard titles were shut down in China because the deal with Activision Blizzard and with its Chinese partner NetEase was not renewed.
In addition, the Chengdu Hunters’ official Weibo account hasn’t been active since December 24. “It’s time to say goodbye and I hope all Chengdu Hunters players and staff will have a bright future,” said the post of Chengdu Hunters illustrator Maruko back in March, along with a poster showing the Chinese term for farewell.
Unironically overwatch just lost half its player base
— Arandom (@Arandom_OW) January 24, 2023
The Overwatch community has also been speculating whether OWL franchises in China would need to relocate elsewhere in order to stay on the competitive scene, as Overwatch 2 cannot be played legally in mainland China. However, the league seems to have prepared some solutions for Chinese franchises aiming to stay.
Meanwhile, a part of the community was hoping that some of these teams would move to VALORANT, and there has already been some development in that direction. Specifically, multiple OWL shoutcasters have already switched to Riot Games’ title, even though et was too sanctioned by the Chinese government earlier this year.
Header: Chengdu Hunters
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