Overwatch League, Shanghai Dragons to represent their city for inaugural season

After it was first announced at BlizzCon in 2016, the Overwatch League™ has inspired great anticipation among players and fans all around the world. For its inaugural season, the Overwatch League will field 12 city-based teams based in Asia, Europe, and North America. The Shanghai team in China, led by Chinese internet technology company NetEase, is pleased to officially unveil the team’s name, logo, and colors today.

The Overwatch League’s Shanghai franchise is officially named the Shanghai Dragons. The Shanghai Dragons will represent their home country on the global esports stage by demonstrating courage and a spirit of teamwork.

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.

More than 30 million players have charged into Blizzard Entertainment’s hit game Overwatch®, which broke sales records in the category of buy-to-play PC-client games in mainland China. As the pinnacle of professional competition for Overwatch, the Overwatch League is a major new initiative in esports whose unique approach draws from the best practices of traditional sports leagues.

“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,” said William Ding, the CEO of NetEase.

The Shanghai Dragons are the first Overwatch League team to announce their official branding. They plan to ride their growing momentum and prepare for the upcoming inaugural season, where they will work to ensure a great esports experience for audiences and promote Chinese esports culture and talent on the world stage.