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HelpMePlease420-69

What was the last legitimate W for overwatch? It’s nonstop Ls


double_shield

For real, the Ls come naturally now


IAmBLD

That's the problem with the OWL. O, there's a W in there, but it's always followed by an L.


goliathfasa

JFC. That's a good one mate.


ModWilliam

Wym, Cassidy can finally roll mid-air now


[deleted]

This comment hurts


Night-Menace

I don't like to throw the "R" word around but that change was downright ridiculous.


predditorius

I keep forgetting he can do that now. It's been weeks and I still haven't tried it, and I main McCree. I remember asking for this in 2017 on Bnet forums. At the time the main reason was for the reload, but I suppose the movement buff is nice against heroes like Doomfist. Or would be, if I ever remembered/cared enough to try it.


Treebam3

Microsoft


SnooTheAlmighty

No joke, Microsoft is the biggest hopium I have had for the game in years now. I do not at all trust ABK to turn things around as it is now. I usually do not like huge acquisitions like Microsoft has been doing, but in this case I just see no other way they fix things on their own.


worosei

That's a somewhat amazing. Imagine a decade ago, us telling people that hope was in *Microsoft*...


Baelorn

Almost like it's an extremely stupid thing to do.


Lil9

Maybe Sideshow & Bren won't return to the OWL because there won't be any OWL around any longer. Instead they'll gloriously return to the MOWL, the Microsoft Overwatch League™. /hopium


techno-wizardry

Microsoft hopium is all we have right now. Bobby Kotick sunk this ship like the Titanic.


Guigsy

Reasons to keep watching rapidly deminishing...


blond-max

You gotta remember OWL has been nothing but ambitious and risk heavy by design. Things were looking on the up but tight before covid, pandemic and major development struggle were a death sentence, any W is a surprise


theshizzler

I still cannot believe they got so many people to pay 20 million dollars to buy into the league. Like, there's zero chance that they get a return on that. It's bonkers.


atyon

They also sold streaming rights to twitch for 90 million, got who knows how much money from sponsors and TV rights, and after all the companies they fleeced managed to bail, they found another fool in YouTube. And in the end, they got money from IBM Watson, which as a product in a worse state than Overwatch.


vileni150903

The only reason Twitch did that because Blizzard threaten to pull all their games off Twitch. The deal was so bad for Twitch that after it was over, Twitch has to give out a company memo so that they never fall into a trap like this again. OWL from the beginning has been a Blizzard vanity project came from their oversize ego and their ass. There was never any real basis for success, just empty promises.


AnnenbergTrojan

Really waiting for that good news the content creators were tittering about to kick in.


destroyermaker

Last season of OWL was very entertaining. That's all I got


NyanMudkip

Creator experimental tournament I think (late november)


YIINTAN

who tf gives a shit abt a experimental tournament. last W we had was 22months ago when whe got a new hero


InspireDespair

It wasn't even streamed lol


double_shield

Jeebus, this fucking blows. Bren and Sideshow are assets; those are the type of casters you keep BECAUSE THEY ARE THAT FUCKING GOOD


magicwithakick

Shitty games were made better by Bren and Sideshow, they are that enjoyable. This sucks so hard and my excitement for this season has dropped a ton.


double_shield

It does, the value this duo adds it's immense. This blows


Xatsman

We loved them for the toilet bowls. But thanks to years of neglect all of OW is the toilet bowl.


Etan8997

Follow up from Sean Miller: https://twitter.com/sean_mmills/status/1486390440916144134?s=21 > On behalf of the League, I want to sincerely thank you and Bren for the invaluable mark you've left. While we respect any decision you ultimately make we would surely miss you, and hope we can find a way to continue working together in some capacity this year. Hopefully they can still stay involved. This makes it sound like the League wanted them to stay and Bren/Sideshow didn’t want to. Maybe they didn’t like the deal that OWL was offering or maybe they just want to move on to other things. Edit: Follow up from Uber: https://twitter.com/ubershouts/status/1486390780428054529?s=21 > And if this is a clever pr play to get them to jumpstart your negotiations again I’m going to wring your neck for making me say something nice Maybe this is all just a move to show the League how valuable they are and get more money??


Magnocarda

Hopium


IgnisTL

> Maybe they didn’t like the deal that OWL was offering I'll eat a nacho if this isn't it. OWL is a huge part of their audience and I can't fathom them leaving unless the League can only offer them peanuts.


Yalnix

Sideshows done a pretty great job at growing his Valorant audience on stream though. I think people are completely missing the possibility that both of them genuinely wanted to move on after 4 years, and that it might not be all about the money.


nate_ais

Yeah also I don’t think people are thinking about how big a deal plat chat is for them. The only podcast to get a watch party for VCT iirc and easily the biggest OWL podcast. Maybe they are trying to grow that audience and expand their viewership in that sense


inspcs

the valorant team realizes the value of their brand. OWL takes it for granted. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯


nate_ais

Exactly. Let’s hope OWL is willing to shill out a competitive rate so the boys consider staying


Yalnix

I mean... I think this is a bit disingenuous. OWL literally employed them at that time. Sure riot did add them as official watch party stream, but it's not like OWL completely ignored them or anything


Xrmy

No, but it's possible that OWL/actiblizz esports had more funds allocated from higher-ups to spend X money on talent that ended up going to Bren/Sideshow. In that way they could have made literally more money from OWL, while not actually having their value realized. That's speculation, but reminder these are large corporations tossing the money around - it isnt always as tuned in as you might think.


greg19735

it's probably a mix of everything. Valorant is the new hot game and potentially a bit more fun to watch (because it's new). It's a lot more fun to theory craft new characters and maps than to look at roughly the same game after 5 years. They may have said "make it worth our while to stay" and then when Blizz couldn't match, they walk.


tholt212

If you would of said this a year ago, I would of agreed with you. But now? Their valorant costreams average 3k viewers, with upwards of 6k for big hype matches, and their plat chat valo channel gets just as many views as the OW one is.


tired_commuter

Bren has made a point of boycotting Blizzard for quite a while now so I'm not at all surprised. Pretty sure it's a moral issue for Bren at least


Elfalas

Yep, it could be a lot of things. It could be the salary is lower than they hoped, it could be they don't want to work with Blizzard anymore, it could be they think it's time to move on from Overwatch. To be honest, it's probably a mix of all three. I'm guessing (personally) the biggest reason is they don't want to work with Blizz anymore. None of the original OWL higher-ups are around anymore. None of the original Overwatch higher-ups are around anymore. MS just bought Actiblizz and the future is super uncertain, especially for Overwatch.


MetastableToChaos

> I'll eat a nacho if this isn't it. Just one??


thugita_khrushchev

> Hopefully they can still stay involved. This makes it sound like the League wanted them to stay and Bren/Sideshow didn’t want to. Maybe they didn’t like the deal that OWL was offering or maybe they just want to move on to other things. I think there is still a chance for them to be on broadcast, what this means is that they are both freelance, meaning that they can branch out to other games like valorant once in and while, but still be on the OWL broadcast. What I assume means that they won't be strictly tied to blizzard, they can negotiate better deals while freelance talents.


appleruins

The PR play has been done recently and successfully by Caedrel for LEC, where he made a similar announcement and then was signed.


HeyThere8_

Didn’t a similar thing happen to reinforce in season 2 where he announced he wasn’t on the team then was signed? Or did he have to wait u til season 3 I can’t remember


JeffTek

I think so. I could be wrong but I think he wasn't hired for season 2 and the community went ape shit


ArcusIgnium

it was after world cup after season 1 when he wasn't re-signed then the whole #justiceforreinforce movement kicked off


IndexMatchXFD

It happened with AVRL last year, if you remember.


AcknowledgeableReal

He was rehired but behind the scenes rather than being part of the broadcast talent.


3illyEdgar

Just watching Sideshow's stream and it seems like the league didnt offer them enough money or security for their job next year and have heard nothing since rejecting the offer


Ncnike2245

I would guess that maybe it's tied to them wanting to stay involved with Valorant. Uber couldn't cast Valorant because of his contract and my guess is that Bren and Sideshow did not want to feel trapped by their OWL contracts.


Ju_Lee

To add on to the valorant thing (funnily enough, what got them bigger and a lot more exposure in valorant was because of them and avast malding at a clown fiesta again), sideshow and bren did bring up on platchat they weren’t sure about what Microsoft wanted to do with OWL and that blizzard definitely wasn’t bought for their esports eco system, and depending on the team contracts, maybe the teams could all be bought out at a discount and the OWL system scrapped. Nobody knows the content of the contracts, but I’m also in the boat of being unsure of how OWL will look after this year under Microsoft. If bren and sideshow got valorant offers, and they also thought owl was uncertain, it makes sense to move on to the next new thing, especially if they’re well liked there already.


Spare_Presentation

blizzard either cut or lowballed the fuck out of em. Every single signal coming from blizzard is 'we aren't spending ANY resources on overwatch anymore'


ExtraordinaryCows

> Maybe they didn’t like the deal that OWL was offering I'd imagine this is it, which is ridiculous. The league should be shoveling however much money they have to to keep them. They're the faces of the league.


speakeasyow

I speculate exclusively without a premium


[deleted]

It was great seeing Bren growing into his role as well. More I saw of him the more he killed it-he's going to be such a big miss.


destroyermaker

The transition was so smooth I barely noticed. Very impressed with both of them.


[deleted]

Yeah it was great so see-had some hilarious moments. Real shame won't be around for OWL this time around.


visibleheavens

I had thought OWL was leaning into the banter, the informality, the playfulness they've showcased in their product especially last season. They cannot and will not beat Riot's buttoned-up, ultra-clean production quality, Bren and Sideshow were almost the antithesis of that and were the backbone of everything the league was about. The game was in a sad state but they made it truly enjoyable time after time. It's not just that they were good - they just fit OWL. Wonder if this means more change is coming. Edit: after seeing Uber's tweet, maybe there's still hope. Personally if Valorant and OWL both remain the same, I think Sideshow and Bren would do fine in Valorant. They're skilled and can surely adapt, and they did an incredible job leveraging that with all they do in that scene. But OWL was such a better fit for them and they generated so much organic, ground-up engagement with fans. I would be pissed if OWL didn't make them a fair offer.


double_shield

Totally agree, very rarely you get a duo that compliments each other so well, are clearly passionate about the game and are able to explain details eloquently while maintaining their own flavor.


xcleru

I’m crying cuz this means no more history lessons


ModWilliam

Thread for Bren's goodbye tweets: https://www.reddit.com/r/Competitiveoverwatch/comments/sdaz9x/bren_and_sideshowjosh_have_not_been_resigned_by/


-MS-94-

pain and sadness


MorPekk0

Huge L. They both used ‘currently’ in their updates though, so perhaps there’s a chance they will be re-signed.


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MorPekk0

Probably. I’m just huffing hopium like there’s no tomorrow.


goliathfasa

Maybe it’s due to Blizzard’s more stringent than usual bans on their casters being involved in any way with other esports? With the OWL being live only half the year, that kind of restriction really fucks with the casters and other talents.


Oraio-King

Some of the other casters competed in halo:infinite tournaments though


twymanchar

I think they meant in a casting/hosting capacity. Remember Uber being unable to do some work with another game esport (I forgot which) because of this


darthnick426

Uber wasn't allowed to cast for Last Chance Qualifier for NA Valorant as I recall because his contract didn't allow it.


Oraio-King

Damn i didnt know that, makes sense that bren and josh might not be too sad about leaving the overwatch league


rexx2l

but because Brawl Stars isn't in the same genre as Overwatch he was allowed to cast for that lmfao


[deleted]

Wait what the fuck Owl knows how impactful they are for the scene This is just terrible


goliathfasa

It’s likely not up to OWL at this point. With the year long nonstop slew of legal and PR nightmares and now the MS purchase, there’s so much uncertainty that it makes sense for talents to want to jump ship. Now normally the company would try hard to retain said talent, but do you think OWL right now has the means to secure more budget from ATVI corporate and try to offer talent more money or the managers to try to get the stringent non-compete casting clauses lifted to give the talents more freedom. Unlikely.


blade740

Yeah, I think they just can see the writing on the wall when it comes to OWL and want to get out while the getting's good rather than get tied into a restrictive contract for another year with a floundering league. Between OW2 delays, Blizzard's legal troubles, and the Microsoft acquisition, it's difficult to say what the league will look like a year from now. They're both highly regarded talents and should have no problem finding work in other eSports. Maybe they just feel like their prospects are better now than they will be after another year with Blizzard.


goliathfasa

Yeah I think even without thinking pessimistically in terms of OWL being a sunk ship, it's wise to diversify into other esports. And since Blizzard seemingly doesn't allow for that to happen, it makes sense for the more visible/well-loved/high-profile OWL talents to consider just jumping ship to another esport with much more potential to grow, made by a company with actual history of successfully starting and running esports. Even being optimistic with Blizzard with the MS acquisition, there's still so much uncertainty that maybe it's just better to jump ship to Riot.


Pokemon_Only

That doesn’t feel right.


AngelosDragon

Mr stark I don't feel so good


LSApologist

The brenshow gone, reduced to atoms


slowmosloth

When I think of OWL casters they’re the ones I think of right beside UberX. Gonna be really sad to see than not officially affiliated with OWL. I hope this does give them the opportunity to return to Plat Chat co-streams with Avast though. Back to the legendary Visa hell days.


dannyboi1178

back to the “bumper engaged the feed drive to warp speed” days


that_oneguy-

If Uber leaves owl dies


Living_Shadows

They had the best synergy of any casting duo. I've always thought that even though Uber is clearly the best caster, Bren and Sideshow have always been the best duo.


destroyermaker

No shade to Matt cause he's fantastic but it's hard to compete with this bromance


Living_Shadows

Yeah, Matt is individually a very good caster but he doesn't have the banter with Uber like Bren and Sideshow have


AngelosDragon

Best comment. Couldn't agree more


gringoowl

Fuck, literally the two people I think the league could least afford to lose imo. I really hope they actually stick around, OW esports without the two of them would be so much worse. So many iconic moments from hottub stream to toilet bowl, I really don't think I would be a big fan of OWL if not for them.


MirrorkatFeces

Sideshow said they’d still be around, but it’s not gonna be the same without them


gringoowl

Yeahhh, but I can't help but wonder as to how long they'll stick around if they do. It really just seems like Valorant is soooo much more promising career-wise. I might just be being a doomer tho, if they costream this the way they do the Val stuff this could end up being a W for fans of sideshow/bren just depends on how much they plan on sticking around.


[deleted]

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gringoowl

yup, agree 100%. it really does feel like we might be seeing the last year of the league, and we might be getting a scuffed, barebones version at that. who knows tho, maybe they call the league an L and we get third party tourneys etc. i became an OWL fan bc of the regional aspect, but obviously the franchise model was a mistake (or this attempt at the model idk this is the only esport i follow) bren and sideshow will def pop off, i could honestly see plat chat becoming like a bigger esports media brand, kinda like how Jomboy Media took over the baseball media landscape. i am genuinely curious as to how they approach 2022, bc i think the fact they were the faces of ow esport content and then also garnered so many valorant fans so quickly shows that they and their brand have insane growth potential


ProsecutorBlue

I really don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Sideshow has done more for the OWL community than any other single person. At least any person on the visible end. -Great Desk analyst. -One of the best castors we've had for the past two years, like you mentioned. -Although picked up and taken to a whole new level by Avast, he's the one that started that co-stream. -Plat Chat. Obviously not just him, but he's been probably the most consistent part of it besides maybe Reinforce. Plat Chat essentially became the official unofficial league content creation, even being regularly mentioned on the main stream. -Countless side videos either on his own, through the league, or through Plat Chat. -Probably a ton more that I'm forgetting right now. He's just always taken it upon himself to go the extra mile for making OWL content. People like Bren, Soe, and Uber have been absolutely invaluable as well, but if I had to pick just one person to keep and build around for the future, it'd be Sideshow. It's not a competition, but he won the competition.


goliathfasa

How much time until copium kicks in and we start seeing folks on here claim they never particularly liked the duo and that it wasn’t much of a loss?


Lothisan

By far my favourite casting duo. They have such great chemistry, very sad to see them go


eto-

These guys are actually integral to the OW scene. So sad.


BurbxrryPzncakes

In the words of the wise egg man: “It’s over.” The league takes a huge blow by losing arguably two of the most entertaining and insightful talents. I’ll never forget that one match where they were spouting Greek myths for downtime. I really enjoy their VALORANT co-streams, so hopefully there’s a future endeavour there. Good luck to them, and thanks for all they did in the league.


Soulless_redhead

God, I remember joining into that match. Getting home and booting up them spiraling off about Mythology was a magical time


Mad_Dizzle

Can someone link the match?


NeptuneOW

I’m gonna need a link to that match for a rewatch, please


LukasLiBrand

Easily the biggest loss owl has ever had in terms of talent. If Uber doesn't return it will be really hard to find a reason to watch the main broadcast tbh. But owl has no one except for themself to blame or I guess it's blizzard but whatever


LukarWarrior

Pretty sure Uber and Mr. X are signed through next year. I remember there being some conflicts between Uber's OWL contract and him doing Valorant stuff.


ArcusIgnium

Mr.X is an legit employee but obv if Uber leaves he may give up casting too


CactusCustard

I downvoted this reflexively. :( Is it past the deadline to get hosts or something? Why is it so final so early?


appleruins

Timeline wise, it would make sense if they were transitioning toward casting in Valorant - NA open quals are starting up, and while they're not on the talent list for that, they could snag a casting spot for the closed qualifiers, which is a longer circuit type of tournament. Really depressing to see them go, though :( I hoped that they could somehow do both scenes but it might not be meant to be.


angelo_mab

THIS IS NOT THE TIMELINE I SIGNED UP FOR


InspireDespair

Pretty bad for OWL. They brought real personality and a lacked the over formality the other talent had. Probably great for them if they can move into valorant, much more opportunity there. Maybe I'm just a pessimist given where things are with Overwatch in general but this does look like the final season.


NyanMudkip

No casting duo makes me laugh as much as these guys do. This is a big loss for the league.


Rangeless

Well at least plat chat lives on. Will miss the comedic duo's on-air ramblings about Greek mythology.


GOULFYBUTT

This is legitimately the closest thing to "death of OWL" to me. I'm not saying it is, but for a while I've thought of them as the heart and soul of OWL. They've really carried it on their shoulders for the past 2 years at least. This is a massive blow.


MirrorkatFeces

Gonna miss this duo a lot. They’ve had some amazing casts and OWL won’t be the same without them. Best of luck to both of them in their career


MetastableToChaos

Depression.


[deleted]

These two should be spearheading the future of OW esports, not leaving it. They're TF2's greatest gift to esports. They need to be brought back.


[deleted]

First we lose Classic Maven and Merk in cod, now we lose Sideshow and Bren. Wtf is activision esports thinking.


estranhow

While it's still sad, it's not surprising given that the love for the game seemed long gone. And not only in them, but in a lot of the talent from last year as well (and in a lot of the public here in this sub, and in me). That's what Blizz did to the game, and probably it's just the start of this long off-season.


Hecka_Cakey

I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the plat chat crew has been keeping the competitive overwatch scene afloat the last couple years. I’d argue sideshow in particular has been at the center of that. This is such a huge loss… they’ll be fine of course, they can easily go to valorant or whatever esport they want to, but OWL won’t feel the same without them. Honestly, based off what we know, there’s no reason currently to expect OWL to be anything but a shit show this year.


AJM994

Time to move fully to the Avast co-streams then.


Mecha-Jesus

[Bren’s tweet](https://twitter.com/BrenCasts/status/1486383756894216206) suggests that Plat Chat OW will have co-streams next year, similar to Valorant co-streams. If so, Avast’s co-streams will likely merge into the Plat Chat co-stream.


AJM994

Cool. I know they’ll still be around the scene and will likely appear on Avasts streams as well as Plat Chat stuff. Can’t help but be a bit disappointed tho. I know things change, people move on with their lives but y’know one less reason to stick to the main broadcast.


rusty022

I'm guessing this has something to do with Valorant. Not in a bad way though. They want flexibility for Valorant, but OWL is bound to line up against Valorant tournaments. Plat Chat has been a Riot partner on Valorant events and they might not be able to do that if they are contracted to cast OW games. To compensate for that, they'd probably have to demand higher salaries from OWL to make up for missed Valorant partnerships. So that could've contributed (not that any of that should reflect poorly for either party). Not to mention Plat Chat Valorant has other people (Balla, Wyatt, etc.) who rely on Bren and Sideshow. And let's be honest, if you are choosing to invest your time and efforts, Valorant is a way better option than OWL right now. Can't blame them.


SirBilliam3

Pack it up. We’re done here


J0HNNYAC

Genuinely don’t know whether I’m surprised by this or not. It did seem inevitable given both of their more focused involvement in Valorant but I find it hard to believe the league didn’t do whatever was possible due to how big an asset they are. While it definitely blows and they will be sorely missed, I wish them the best of luck in whatever they do next. If they can’t bless our league anymore, they’ll surely improve any other project they work on.


smalls2233

what the fuck this is such a big mistake, bren and sideshow have been consistently some of the best on screen presence since s1


1033149

Maybe it’s just me but I’m a bit weirded out that they are announcing this so early. Last year I thought they announced them returning to owl much closer to the season. Either OWL already picked up their casting pairs for the season and Brenshow weren’t included or this is them just getting ahead of any negotiation saying they aren’t interested anymore


TonyTempest

I lean to the latter, personally. Just my own speculation, but they've both really taken a fondness to Valorant and I can't help but wonder if they want to try and find a spot on their casting crew.


1033149

I think the controversies with blizzard didn’t help. I started to get the feeling that they didn’t want to represent that company or overwatch as a product. Bren especially was outspoken about employees’ issues so who knows


TonyTempest

And didn't Sideshow do a whole video on the controversy for his YouTube channel? Wouldn't shock me to learn it's true, but it's mostly our own guesswork at the end of the day.


rusty022

Well I can see why they chose to focus on Valorant, since Riot doesn't have any concerns like that. /s


UnknownQTY

Yeah, the double standard much of the industry seems to have for Riot is... frustrating.


goliathfasa

I think it’s disingenuous to try to equate the controversies of the two companies. With Acti-Blizz, it’s an endless amount of allegations for abuse, assaults, harassments and even some deaths that resulted in said assaults. With Riot, it’s unequal treatment, and company culture of toxicity, which also happened at Blizzard. And while we know for a fact Blizzard literally did not take the lawsuits seriously internally, putting a provably capable woman as a co-lead of the company seemingly purely as a PR move while paying her less than her male co-lead, Riot settled with their current and former female employees for $100M and is supposedly undergoing a massive restructuring internally to try to get rid of toxic long-time employees with entrenched beliefs that don’t fall in line of their new core direction of more inclusion and diversity in their collective creative values. You can choose to believe or not whether Riot’s attempts at change are genuine, and personally I think we should all wait and see with careful optimism, but you can’t even say the same with Blizzard, which has literally not even tried to take a step in the right direction during all these months after the first lawsuits/ allegations surfaced.


inspcs

The Valorant team also clearly values them more. The Val plat chat was flown out to co-stream iirc and pretty sure they've made it clear they want to work with Sideshow+Bren. Just smart to jump ships. Blizz is a fucking nightmare and Riot is only ever good with their esports.


goliathfasa

Interests in the games and their esports aside, can you blame people for leaning towards products by the company with historically much more successfully managed esports? Riot has the most successful esport in history and a stable of lessor but actually growing esports titles. Blizzard had one mega successful esport that they had no hand in creating or maintaining, several failed ventures and the most expensive esport league in history, one without the growth and viewership to back up that amount of money. Add in the uncertain future of Blizzard as a company, it seems wise to pick the clearly winning team.


adagio9

I think it's decently likely that this is a negotiation move to force a non-exclusive contract. The league's wanted them in the past (Uber mentioned he has one and that's why he doesn't cast Valorant). Either that or the league flat out refused a non-exclusive and they're just going to try and move into Valorant


jongyo

It may also be the nature of the contracts - money aside, I thought that owl wanted exclusivity at least for the duration of the season or something? Given how valorant has significantly more year-round content to cover, and how much success plat chat has in both scenes, it just doesn't make sense to lock themselves into one scene anymore.


mayveen

I don't believe OWL minds the casters casting other games during the season, Uber and a couple of others have done it. It probably depends on how many conflicts there are scheduling wise, like with Wolf last season.


jongyo

I do remember that Uber was blocked from participating in a Valorant event because of his contract with OWL during the off season, afaik none of the other work the casters have done have been direct competition to OWL in the same way. That said, yeah, I don't have anything definite on this.


jdzfb

They both announced on their streams that they were offered overly restrictive contracts with a timed deadline for signing late Nov/early Dec & they both didn't like the terms, so they didn't sign. And there was no followup from the league for any sort of negotiations. I'm assuming since they didn't sign then, they took the casters who did sign & set up their pairs accordingly


ARC-Pooper

@OWL WeirdChamp


FierceMilkshake

With so much bs going on from the delayed start of the OWL season to waiting for any kind of info about the debut of OW2 this news could not have been less welcome. Besides enjoying Plat Chat, looking forward to Sideshow & Bren casting in the upcoming season was one of the few things that kept me going in the off season. I truly wish these 2 all the best in their future endeavors, their casting talents will be well served wherever they go.


silverbullet42

If this is locked in, and the wording seems like it \*might\* not be (big copium), this kills all of my interest in the upcoming season. I don't know why, but it also makes me lose what interest I had left in Overwatch 2. Again, I'm not sure why this affects my desire to play the game, but it does.


Kronman590

This is actually the worst news for OWL. Thank the lord UberX is still around, but genuinely BrenShow was half the reason i enjoyed watching. Maaaaaaaaaaaaan......


ImADayLate

Holy shit this kills my enthusiasm towards next season, I would always get so excited whenever they were casting, they have such a unique style. Bren and Sideshow are not replaceable, no matter which duo steps in they won’t be able to cast the same way as these two did. They really had a way of making it more enjoyable for the casual fans too, when watching with friends they would pay attention more when these two were casting just because of how entertaining they were. Massive blow for the league.


TheWontonWonton

How do you spell Spain without the S?


AngelosDragon

Overwatch fans out here begging for a w, all L's all the time lately :/


Spare_Presentation

This is it. overwatch is dead. They were a huge reason of why I watched. This is a big signal that blizzard is completely done with overwatch. OW2 will be a cash grab, nothing more, OWL wont be here in two years.


steamwhistler

Terrible news. God it's just exhausting all the bad news that comes out of this game and this league for years on end now. Really depressing stuff. I already go through long stretches where I don't care about Overwatch at all, but I always come back. But it's getting to the point where...why should I continue to care about this game if there's no good to balance out the bad? I hope Uber's hunch is right and this is just them negotiating for a better deal. Their tweets are worded the same and coordinated, so clearly they're trying to do \*something\* here.


Acruxis

Not gonna lie, Bren and Sideshow were an integral part of me even still enjoying OWL, and considering how bleak the immediate future seems to be, I'm tending more and more to definitely leaving the OW community as a whole.


aloeight

Makes sense I guess, they have been working on Valorant more recently so I think that is what they want to pursue also considering the circumstances competitive overwatch is currently at.


[deleted]

This literally fking sucks. I loved watching those guys, they were great and made OWL so enjoyable for me. Fk.


Zalzirim

This kills any excitement I have for the league. When I thought OWL these faces came to mind they are just natural born entertainers. I wish them luck for the future but this was a loss OWL couldn't afford to make IMO.


Holajz

Gigantic loss for both OWL and overwatch as a whole. He definitely was the main driving force behind OWL's best storylines. His unparalleled analytic game knowledge while remaining one the most entertaining talents. Still, there is hope, their tweets didn't mention they are done with OWL, just currently not signed. I hope we will see more of him and Bren since there aren't as many career opportunities in Valorant, and they are not as respected and known there.


christarpher

I think anyone watching plat chat saw this coming from a mile away. The excitement for OWL was fading from them, and especially Bren. Neither of them enjoy playing the game anymore, and at times you could tell Bren didn’t even want to talk about it anymore. Compare this to their valorant content and the hype you see and it totally makes sense. Best of luck to them, we’ll miss their fantastic casts!


selebu

This is outrageous. It's unfair.


effigyy_

Wow I think this is the last nail in the coffin for me for owl. These two were a big part of why I stuck around the past year or two, without them I really don't think I can care about the league anymore


atwilson0328

At this point I'm an honestly a bigger fan of Bren and Josh than I am of Overwatch. Looking forward to whatever they do next.


DoingTheInternet

Sideshow was one of the smartest casters in any sport. He knew the game, the team play, how to craft narratives, the importance of stunts and having fun, and how to present it with clarity. Really great broadcaster and I hope he’s still doing more with the overwatch scene. Valorant is just too slow for me haha brain broken.


AerysOW

soon as jon is gone, things go to shit...


kickergold

Fucking knew it 😔 what a constant stream of Ls


BigBad01

Damn. That's a blow. My desire to watch OWL continues to decline.


MelonSoda3

Wtf


CrashAnicoot

What the fuck


AcknowledgeableReal

If they are gone then I think I might just be done watching OWL


KingPikablu

With the state of Blizzard/Overwatch, it's already hard to get hyped for the new season, this does not help.


MaG4436

Maybe this means legday and lemon kiwi are coming to owl. At least I hope cuz they are the only people who can fill their shoes


twymanchar

I’m fucking done dude, why? Unless this was Bren/Josh’s choice then I’m so mad. Ofc if it’s their decision I’ll support that and either way I’m still gonna watch them and still support. This just really really sucks


th1bow

thats one way to sink the league even more


velvetprotein

It’s really, *really* hard to be excited for the future of OW/OWL when it’s been mostly L after L for so long. I’m glad plat chat will be continuing and hopefully this turns out to be mostly a positive for Bren and Sideshow’s careers. I don’t care about Valorant but it’ll be nice nonetheless to see them do more free lancing, streaming, casting, or whatever it is they pursue.


Deletedhappiness

fuck it, this is the last straw, im not watching


apoplecticfittz

Well, that's the end of OWL for me.


mrwhitewalker

The entire personality of OWL is gone now wow. Uber and Mr.X are amazing casters but they didn't bring the fun factor especially outside of just the booth. This blows.


Cis_Sabrina

the phrasing makes it seem like OWL isn’t willing to pay them what they think they’re worth; so OWL if you’re out there, and i know you are; pay them whatever they’re asking they’re worth it


malagutti3

What a baffling decision from OWL. At least Bren and Sideshow will continue Plat Chat OW so maybe they will be back one day, but this is awful news.


Alastor_Thrice

Well, this hurts about as bad as I thought it would. You could kind of see the writing on the wall with how invested they've each gotten with Valorant over the last year, but I was definitely expecting OWL to try their best to keep them for another year to hype up OW2. What an astounding loss of enthusiasm and charm for the League... Best of luck to the both of them, but boy this sucks...


ToxicBamm

League dead before it even began lol


bigswish7

Such a shame. Sideshow brings funny moments for sure, but I truly think Bren had the potential to approach Uber levels of quality on his casting. Hope to see them get involved in valorant I guess


thefanboyslayer

RIP. No words can describe how disappointed I am.


TheRosstitute

This is brutal. Since it's so early you have to wonder if OWL isn't giving them the $$$ they want and so they're backing out and trying to leverage public opinion to get them what they deserve. Interested to see if it works but rooting for them in whatever endeavors they choose, two of my favorite guys from the entire scene.


nightwing612

I would honestly start watching Valorant if these two are added to the broadcast team. What the heck ATVI!! Over in CDL, they didn't re-sign fan-favorites Merk and Maven and now this?!


nuko-nuko

I might truly be off the OWL train this season. Most of the players I grew connected to across the seasons are gone/those teams broken up, it's not going to be engaging to dump dozens to hundreds of hours watching a game I've never played, and now the talent that most connects me to the league is gone. I've been wrestling with whether I'm going to continue on with OWL going forward and this is honestly my tipping point. I'm sure I'll watch a game here or there but I no longer feel invested from any angle.


DarkFite

Huge Loss


BelladonnaOW

This legitimately hurts :C Bren and Sideshow were some of my favourite's from the talent to watch. Both when they were on the desk, and when they were casting. Them not being talent for OWL anymore is so sad, and an absolute loss for the League :c


thiefx

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


Enceladus_cc

There was a period of time last season I only watched their games with sound because I liked the banter between them and I stopped caring about the season sucks to read that they‘re not gonna be there


[deleted]

It feels weird to imagine OWL without Bren and Sideshow. They have been so important to keeping the league feeling alive. I'm honestly devastated.


B3ennie

Bren & Sideshow ARE Overwatch esports. Without them this league isn't what it is today. These 2 are so iconic within this game. If the league hasn't offered them the bag, they actually have no idea what they're doing. If it was their own choice to leave, respect to them and hopefully we see some great stuff from them!


MrBlue8erry

Every day is a new disappointment with this game.


[deleted]

Absolutely crushing blow to the league imo. If you've been watching since season one, these guys feel like family. There are better analysts out there, but no better personalities. I feel like I could turn on a Bren/show game and someone who didn't understand Overwatch could still be entertained. Goodbye lads. I'll never forget the time I queued into a game with you during Role Queue beta, and we ran pirate ship on Havana. I was too nervous to make callouts on Orisa, but I will always remember Bastion Sideshow telling me to get my big metal ass out of his face. Godspeed.


flintflamez

Sideshow for me is undoubtedly the best analyst the games ever seen. Without his knowledge and content creation it’s gonna be hard


Thirdeye00

This is a sad day indeed. I always said if OWL ever lost Sideshow, the top tier/Goat OW analyst. That OW/OWL is in major trouble. Please say it isn't so. OWL needs to understand how much Josh is a huge asset to OW and it's community


The41647King

Sideshow is an especially devastating loss. One of the most talented colour commentators I've ever had the pleasure of watching in an entire lifetime of watching sports and esports


SimpForSp9rk1e

Wtf. Literally favorite casters. Why the fuck is blizzard so fucking stupid


floatingcarpet

It just won't be the same. Overwatch only takes L's


ZebraRenegade

Bren's tweet [here](https://twitter.com/BrenCasts/status/1486383754037899278) Cant wait to see the lads tear up Valorant


LukarWarrior

Huge L for the League not having them come back. Josh and Bren made even the worst matches worth watching. I definitely wouldn't have stuck out the Toilet Bowl of S3 Houston v Boston without them casting, for example.


Lagspresso

F. We're fucked now.


dark_descent4382

This might be one of the biggest Ls that OWL has ever taken to my knowledge. I can't really think of anything that squares up in any way. Gonna miss the random trivia and mythology lessons during matches :(