On Thursday, Pete Vlastelica stepped down as Commissioner of the Overwatch League. As of October 2nd, Johanna Faries, commissioner of theCall of DutyLeague, has been appointed to a new position titled Head of Leagues. This is set to take effect on October 12th as she heads both the CDL and Overwatch Leagues.
In this new position, Johanna Faries will operate both theCall of DutyLeague andOverwatchLeagueand take over all responsibilities that Pete Vlastelica had during his time. She will not be alone, as a Brandom Snow will be adding marketing and league analytics to his list of responsibilities.
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Faries will now have to oversee team and broadcast operations on both the CDL and OWL along with being a general administrator. This is a massive responsibility but asBlizzard and Activision continue to grow closer, it feels like a natural transition for many fans. Considering both the CDL and OWL operate in similar functions, the combination of the two jobs will hopefully increase uniformity between the two organizations.
As for Vlastelica, afterstepping down from OWL Commissionerhe will be transitioning into new entrepreneurial ventures on behalf of Activision and Blizzard. It is not known exactly what this means, but it could be the start of several smaller projects that require someone of his skill to promote and manage.
The OWL and CDL both require strong leadershipamid COVID-19 limitations. Since her start with the CDL, Faries has helped the organization thrive despite live events being canceled. The CDL Championship continues to be the most-watched stream produced by the league through digital means bringing in just over 206,000 viewers.
TheCDL second season is planning to launch next yearwith major changes to its formatting. Recently, the league announced a return to 4v4 formatting reducing each team roster by one player. They also announced that all matches on PC will be using controllers as an extension of the current partnership with PlayStation.
It is important to note that Activision has not announced the change in role as of yet, but a formal announcement is expected as of October 12th.
