Chinese Overwatch pro shy calls out Blizzard for unequal treatment amid OWL seeding drama

Chinese Overwatch pro player ‘shy’ says Blizzard “hasn’t been treating us equally” after OWL playoffs seeding issues. 

The second day of the Overwatch League Playoffs has just wrapped up, and we just saw APAC’s Hangzhou Spark pull off back-to-back reverse sweeps against the West’s Atlanta Reign and Boston Uprising. 

The cards were stacked against Hangzou’s favor the entire season, from being robbed of APAC’s number one seed in both 2023’s Midseason Madness and Playoffs, and the closure of Blizzard’s titles in China. 

Now, after securing the top seed from their group, Hangzhou’s Zheng “shy” Yangjie had a few things to say about Blizzard’s treatment of Chinese teams and players. 

Hangzhou Spark player says they weren’t treated equally by Blizzard after OWL seeding mishaps

In a press conference after their Boston Uprising match, when asked if the team had anything to say to Blizzard about the state of Overwatch in China, shy said, “Blizzard hasn’t been treating us equally, us Chinese players or Chinese teams.” 

Shy has already voiced his disapproval of Hangzhou’s eight-place seeding coming into the playoffs on his Weibo account, as the team performed the best coming in from the East Knockouts.

Hangzhou was given the lowest seed due to OWL’s Playoff drafts determining seeding rather than season performances. 

However, now that Hangzhou has clinched the first seed in miraculous fashion, shy and teammate Zhou “Mmonk” Xiang said, “I do think it’s a confidence boost for Chinese Overwatch players. Whether it’s normal players or professional players, because we as a full Chinese team, are able to perform well in this Playoffs.”

Much of the Hangzhou roster will also be representing Team China in the upcoming Overwatch World Cup.

When asked if their big celebrations after both matches were due to the odds being stacked against their favor, shy said, “I don’t think it has a lot of impact on our emotions”

“Because we were really excited yesterday because all of our players were united as one, and also we were facing against a really strong opponent that is the Atlanta Reign. So, these are basically why we were so excited after the reverse sweep.” 

Hangzhou will be playing the second seed from group two in the Grand Finals bracket, which will be either Dallas Fuel or Houston Outlaws, on October 1 for a spot in the finals.