Oh yes, Overwatch is absolutely very different than CS:GO and League, and it has short match times which in my opinion is something that is a big plus for the game. I don't think the game is bad at all, in fact I think the opposite. I think it is crisp and immaculate, it handles like a dream and Blizzard have outdone themselves again.

This doesn't mean it isn't competing with CS:GO and LoL though. Those two and DOTA are Overwatch's biggest threat. This game has been hyped and billed as an esport for a while now, so those are its direct competitors. If people are viewing the others for competitive purposes instead of Overwatch they are in big trouble. At the rate it is going now it won't even be the most popular Esport that Blizzard has in its own catalog!

For stats, here is a better site for monitoring Twitch viewership: https://stats.twitchapps.com/

Obviously not a guaranteed metric by any means, but one of the only ones that can help us determine how big of a competitive "scene" may be lingering out there for the game.

League didn't get popular as an esport because it was built as an esport from the ground up. It became popular because a fuckton of people were playing it and wanted to watch others play it competitively. I suspect that is the model Blizzard is going with.

Obviously that worked for LoL but copying someone else's model is a great way to end up in the middle or lower end of the table. I'm not sure what they have to do here, I am just kind of sitting by the sidelines observing trends and seeing where they go. This delay is obviously a hiccup and I have no idea what will happen with this game, but I am worried it will fizzle if left unattended and without competitive modes for 2 months.