Houston Outlaws and London Spitfire to clash in their home cities for the “Overwatch Gilded Gala”
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentThe Houston Outlaws and London Spitfire have announced the “Overwatch Gilded Gala”, a series of events in the teams’ home cities.
The first event will take place in London, England, and the second in Houston, Texas, allowing home-town fans in each location to get an “up-close and personal look at their star players”.
The London event is set to take place on October 20, during the two-week period that the Season One champions London Spitfire will be visiting their home city. The Houston event will take place in January 2019, with an exact date yet to be announced.
Each event will feature three to four star players of the Spitfire and Outlaws going head-to-head in a variety of game modes, from 1v1s, mystery heroes, and matches featuring fans alongside the pros.
Though the announcement states that the events will feature “two showmatches”, it doesn’t clarify whether these will be full competitive series, or just the previously mentioned assortment of fun game-modes. Fans hoping to see the two teams back in action competitively may therefore have to wait until the Overwatch League returns, anticipated as early 2019.
London Spitfire CEO Jack Etienne said he is “really excited to put something special together for the fans”, whose support “continues to be phenomenal”. Houston Outlaws general manager Matt ‘Flame’ Rodriguez also said that “as a team with a major focus on fan connection [Outlaws] are beyond pleased to be able to join our friends at the Spitfire to bring positive fan engagements to a passionate esports community”.
The events will also see local social media personalities in attendance, offer unique give-aways for the fans, and show off the cultural highlights of each city. The Gilded Gala is an event “dedicated to the fans and where the love of Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch can be shared by all”.