This Open Access book provides a comprehensive review of the rapidly developing esport
phenomenon by examining one of its contemporary flagship titles Overwatch (Blizzard
Entertainment 2016) through three central themes and from a rich variety of research methods
and perspectives. As a game with more than 40 million individual players an annual
international World Cup and a franchised professional league with teams from Canada China
Europe South Korea and the US Overwatch provides a multifaceted perspective to the cultural
social and economic topics associated with the development of esports which has begun to
attract attention from both commercial and academic audiences. The book starts with an
introduction chapter to Overwatch and esports engagement in general co-authored by the
editors. This is followed by 15 unique chapters from scholars within the field of game cultures
and esports representing ten different nationalities. The contributions construct thematic
sections that divide the book into three parts: Players Diverse Audiences? and Fan & Fiction
Work. As such the parts provide a wide-ranging overview of esport engagement thus disclosing
the phenomenon's cross-cultural transmedial and interconnected relations that have not been
probed earlier in a single anthology.
