Potential changes coming to Contenders in Season 3 have leaked

❘ Updated: 2018-10-29T18:51:07

Potential changes that could be coming to Overwatch’s Contenders Season 3 were leaked to Twitter and would drastically change how the Tier 2 Overwatch competition operates.

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*Update: October 30* Blizzard have confirmed Contenders 2019 details.

The information comes from two anonymous Twitter accounts known as RealLeakBoy and Survivor: Overwatch who’ve been reporting roster moves and more throughout the off-season.

According to RealLeakBoy the changes coming to Season 3 of Contenders are significant, especially the change to how the season is played. Season 3 Contenders will reportedly be 100 percent online, with no LAN events for playoffs or finals.

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In addition to there being no more LANs, only Overwatch League academy teams will hold on to their spot going into Season Four, which means all non-academy teams will have to re-qualify for Season Four, no matter where they place.

Read More: Overwatch League post-Season One transfer list *updating*

Reactions to the news has been mixed, with some, like OWL caster Reinforce, saying it will benefit the Contender’s scene in the long run, to those who think this is just another sign that Blizzard doesn’t care about T2 Overwatch.

Protecting investments from Academy teams by removing relegation (avoiding a GGEA situation) encourages more OWL teams to invest in the T2 scene and widen their brand, leading to more $$$ for amateur players.

Your "T2 support" won't come from third-party orgs picking up i.e. LNL https://t.co/MmwQ6Jkdvq

— Jonathan Larsson (@Reinforce) October 29, 2018

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to attract players to the game based off of their "Path to Pro" system. Contenders SA has ridiculous numbers yet no LAN. I bet they'll roll out a bunch of new regions for contenders too to try to offset this small announcement.

— Wilson Xu (@scr1beOW) October 29, 2018

The above is rumors from various sources, including these:https://t.co/aVK6CVcj3T https://t.co/z5ON4s8hnh

Nothing confirmed or official, but it's scary enough these seem possible.

— Jayne :point_right: TwitchCon (@AskJayne) October 29, 2018

Earlier in October RealLeakBoy broke the news that Overwatch statistics site Winston’s Lab would be shutting down, a few days later, Wintson’s Lab founder Dennis Matz announced he was leaving the site to join the new Toronto Defiant.

Read More: Paris player shows off his Genji skills during this impressive Overwatch killstreak

Whether or not this is exactly how things will go down remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: opinions on Contenders will continue to divide the competitive Overwatch community.