As the Grand Finals of the Overwatch League's 2020 competition nears closer, news has broken involving Pete Vlastelica stepping down from his position as the official Overwatch League commissioner. This also means that Vlastelica will be stepping down from his role as Activision Blizzard's chief executive of esports.
There is no given reason for this change of role outside of news that Vlastelica will be moving into a new "entrepreneurial" role instead. This change shouldn't affect the Overwatch League Grand Finals running from October 8th, 2020 to October 10th, 2020.
Vlastelica originally joined Activision Blizzard in 2016 after previously serving as Fox Sports' executive vice president of digital. He then went on to become the Overwatch League commissioner in May of 2019 to replace Nate Nanzer who originally served that position.
Nothing has currently been announced regarding on who will be replacing Vlastelica as the Overwatch League commissioner and Activision Blizzard's chief executive of esports. While it is likely that someone will likely be picked before the Grand Finals of the Overwatch League, nothing is for certain. Vlastelica however will not be completely leaving his position until the Grand Finals are complete.
Considering how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected both video game companies and the esports scene, it isn't surprising for changes to be happening internally during this time. Hopefully, fans of the Overwatch League won't be kept in the dark regarding the future of Overwatch's competitive gaming scene. These changes may also be related to the preparation of Overwatch 2's eventual release to the public.
Overwatch is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Sport Business