The Overwatch League’s Shanghai franchise now has a name

A team from the upcoming Overwatch League has for the first time been given an official name and branding.

The Shanghai Dragons will, as the name suggests, represent China’s biggest city. It’s owned by Netease, which is of course a partner of Overwatch developer Blizzard.

Its logo takes the form of a dragon shaped like an ‘s’. Added the blurb: “In Chinese culture, the dragon symbolizes the spirit of that which is sacred, powerful, and supreme. The Shanghai Dragons’ logo combines the team’s name and a dragon figure to call upon the history of this symbol. The letter S outlined by the body of the dragon represents Shanghai, and the smooth line design is a nod to the strategic skill and flexibility of the team. 

“Furthermore, red is present as a theme color for the Shanghai Dragons’ logo in order to emphasize its Chinese connection.”

Netease CEO William Ding added: “We aim to create more high-quality and innovative products for gamers around the world. The Overwatch League is an opportunity we didn’t want to miss because of the opportunity to earn audiences’ excitement and loyalty through world-class esports competition.”

Blizzard announced last week that the Overwatch League’s preseason will start on December 6th. The preseason will involve a series of exhibition matches between the 12 teams in the League. However, the real season kicks off on January 10th and will continue through to june, with playoffs and finals taking place in July to crown a winner. 

Blizzard have also announced the three remaining teams that will be participating in Overwatch’s twelve man league: Comcast Spectator in Philadelphia, Team EnVyUs in Dallas and OpTic Gaming in Houston. 

“With the first 12 teams in place, we’re now just a few short months away from the inaugural season of the Overwatch League,” Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said at the time. “This is a huge milestone for the league. We can’t wait for the action to get underway and to see some of the top competitive Overwatch players in the world facing off to become the first-ever Overwatch League champions.”