Cal's Overwatch team - Defending a National Championship
Channel: UC Berkeley
Date: 2018-02-12

This coming weekend, the Cal Overwatch Team, is headed to Tempe, Arizona, to defend its national collegiate champion title against the University of Toronto, UC Irvine and UC San Diego.

Co-sponsored by Tespa, a network that connects college gamers around the nation, the Fiesta Bowl event will be livestreamed to tens of millions of viewers via the Twitch channel.

Overwatch was launched by Blizzard Entertainment in 2016, and has an estimated 35 million players worldwide. Its 26-plus heroes must carry out missions across volatile battlefields known as “maps.” The roster is roughly divided into offensive players known as “damage dealers,” “tanks” who act as buffers to protect the team and “healers” who use their powers to cure damage. There are also flex players who can change roles.

As a team, they practice six hours a week and individually, two to four hours a day. If the team wins a varsity championship, they can earn around $7,000 apiece in scholarship money.

For the full story, visit: http://news.berkeley.edu/2018/02/12/caloverwatch/

Video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Stephen McNally

Video footage courtesy Blizzard Entertainment and Tespa

Music: "Far Away" by MK2

http://news.berkeley.edu/
http://www.facebook.com/UCBerkeley
http://twitter.com/UCBerkeley
http://instagram.com/ucberkeleyofficial
https://plus.google.com/+berkeley