Sources: Overwatch League flip-flops on age eligibility rule leading to another controversy

According to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter, the Overwatch League has internally been involved with another rule dispute with multiple different versions of the player age eligibility rule causing confusion about the midseason pickup eligibility of potential prospects.

The League has now walked back its change and has returned to the initial version given to players during a player summit held before the start of the season, making only players eligible to play if they turned 17 before the start of Overwatch League’s sixth season.

The return to the initial version of the rule is understood to be materially different, impacting the midseason pickup strategy of some of its franchises.

The Rule dispute

The specific difference lies in whether or not players who turned 17 during the ongoing season were going to be allowed to play during Overwatch League’s sixth season. Furthermore, one of the versions opened up the possibility of signing a player to an Overwatch League contract long before they turn 17, as long as they didn’t play their first match before reaching said age.

The confusion stemmed from several versions of the rule the League gave out both in official rulebooks and in clarifying internal messages.

According to a clause in the rulebook which players had been given during a player’s summit prior to the start of Overwatch League’s sixth season, only players who turned 17 before the start of the Pro-Am would be eligible to play during the season. The version of the rule reads:

“Age. Each Player must be at least seventeen (17) years old on or before March 23, 2023, to be eligible to compete in the Overwatch League 2023 Season.”

Another version was shared in the public Roster Construction Rules which state:

“Players who will be seventeen (17) years old or older as of the date of the first Match of the 2023 League Season are eligible to sign PSAs for (and compete in) the 2023 Season.”

The public Roster Construction Rules did not specify if the Pro-Am would be considered the start of the Overwatch League season or not.

The League was asked for clarification on the rule given those different versions. According to GGRecon's sources Head of the Overwatch League, Sean Miller internally shared the following message that changed the timeframe of player eligibility:

“We've been getting some questions on the Roster Construction Rules age of eligibility, and whether an individual who has turned 17 after the first match of the season can be signed to play in 2023. To clarify, any individual who will be 17 or older as of the date of their first OWL match is eligible to be signed to a 2023 PSA and play this season.”

This version of the rule extended the scope of players that could be signed to players that turned 17 during the ongoing season by making it contingent on having to be 17 on the day of first active play.

Finally, after GGRecon reached out for a comment regarding the matter of player age eligibility on Thursday 8th, 2023, pointing out an inconsistency with the initial rule version and the market rumours GGRecon had received knowledge of, according to our sources the League walked back the decision internally, with Sean Miller explaining on Friday in internal Overwatch League channels:

“After careful reconsideration, we will proceed as originally planned and require that a player must have been 17 at the time of season start to be considered eligible for OWL play in 2023. Thank you to the Teams who provided feedback in the last few days, much appreciated and please let us know if you have any questions.”

An Overwatch League spokesperson provided the following statement to GGRecon:

"The League continues to proceed with its player age eligibility requirements which state a player must have been 17 years old at the start of the season."

The reconsideration of the player age eligibility rule is seen as practically relevant in internal cycles, as some teams had been eyeing the signing of some of the players that had been made available by the prior explanation of the rule.

Earlier this week, the Overwatch League was involved in another rule dispute with the Hangzhou Spark which saw the head of the franchise, Grey publicly speak out on the incident on Twitter.

According to Grey, the League had not abided by a clause included in the rulebook given to players at the pre-season player summit which outlined that a team that won the Group A knockout stage bracket for Midseason Madness in the Eastern region would be automatically put as the first seat.

Instead, the League awarded Seoul Infernal the top seed based on their superior qualifying stage record. Sean Miller had responded on Twitter, stating that it had always been their intention to reward the team with the better Spring Stage record.