Overwatch Professionals To Get $50K In Salary And Health Insurance

In case anyone needed proof that playing video games has become a serious career choice, Blizzard just announced that players competing in the Overwatch League will be receiving salaries and benefits. To start with, each player will get $50,000 a year on a contractual basis. They will also be getting health insurance and will even receive retirement savings options.

In the outline that Blizzard released with regards to player compensations and benefits, the company explains what players can expect and what is required of them. As already mentioned, players will get a standard minimum annual salary of $50,000 per year. Aside from that, it would seem that performance bonuses will also be thrown in the mix.

“Teams will distribute at least 50% of their team performance bonuses (i.e. money from winning playoffs and other League events) to their players directly,” the outline reads. “The total bonuses available for Overwatch League teams in Season 1 will amount to USD $3.5 million, with a minimum USD $1 million awarded to the Season 1 champion.”

Officially, teams will be made up of six people at the very least, with a maximum of up to 12. Taking the bonus amount into account, a team with a lean makeup could end up with $750,000 per person, Tech Crunch points out.

All of these combined present a considerably attractive deal to players, especially those who fancy themselves going professional. Obviously, actually getting on this stage is going to be a challenge, with the limited number of slots per team and the expected minimum number of teams to join the League.

So far, only seven teams have been announced, which hail from cities like Boston, Seoul, and Shanghai. This system is intended to ingrain a home-team mentality among fans, which will allow them to know exactly who they will be rooting for. In this sense, eSports become quite similar to regular sports.