For it’s Overwatch League, Blizzard set out to establish an eSports outfit that offers its players the kind of professional careers afforded to athletics teams.
As part of that endeavor, Blizzard has outlined the benefits players can expect as members of one of the Overwatch League’s seven teams and detailed how the player signing process will work.
For the first season of Overwatch League play, Blizzard has mandated players earn a minimum salary of $50k a year, in addition to being offered team-provided health insurance, practice spaces, player housing during the season, and a retirement savings plan.
Those that sign on with the league do so for a guaranteed term of one year and have the option to extend the contract for an additional year after that period.
For its first season, Blizzard has set a total bonus pool of $3.5 million aside for teams that win events throughout the year, with a minimum of $1 million headed to the overall Season 1 champ. Beyond that, 50 percent of all team performance bonuses are set to flow directly into the pockets of each team’s roster of between 6 and 12 players.
Details on both the benefit offerings and the rules for signing new players to a team can be found in full on the Overwatch League’s website.