OWL viewers spent over $300,000 to buy Twitch Bits

Twitch is a major partner of the Overwatch League. According to reports, they spent over $90 million to stream exclusive Overwatch League tournaments. In addition to the ongoing successes in this Overwatch tournament, new information also shows that this partnership agreement also pays off for Twitch, Blizzard, and the Overwatch League teams themselves.

During Overwatch League matches, followers put a lot of money into Twitch Bits. This is the Cheering with Bits feature that was launched on February 21, right after phase two of the Overwatch League’s first season began. Fans can drop out Bits to cheer on their favorite Overwatch League teams and players.

At the time of writing, there are over 21 million Bits in use, with the current exchange rate around $0.014 USD/bit. We still don’t include the amount of Bits purchased in bundles or received from watching ads, Twitch has already raked in over $300,000. Dallas Fuel is the team that received the most Bits, and is currently leading with 3,845,114 Bits, according to information from the Overwatch League’s Twitch page. Dallas Fuel is the first Overwatch League team to surpass 1 million Bits and has grossed over $35,000 USD. However, according to Twitch’s FAQ section, the team will not receive the direct portion of the money, but it will be divided between Twitch, Blizzard and the teams/players.

Overwatch League teams are sure to be delighted by this enthusiastic cheer, but fans use Bit not just to support their favorite team or player. Twitch has Overwatch League-specific and community goals when followers reach certain milestones – the first of which will unlock the Overwatch League skin for the hero Tracer when it exceeds 40 million Bits. Viewers can also get team emotes on Twitch for every 150 Bits they use, and each hero emote on Twitch for every 100 Bits they use.

In addition, many viewers are also promised to receive free Overwatch League Tokens. Twitch and Blizzard have announced that players will receive a token for each live match they watch, and these tokens can be exchanged for skins. While Twitch and Blizzard want viewers to follow because they love it, their efforts to retain viewers have paid off incredibly well.

The Overwatch League is still in its infancy, but these are good signs that the sport is on the right track. After garnering millions of viewers in its first week of launch, keeping up with that trend will be a tough challenge, but Cheering with Bits and the free Tokens look like they’ll continue to keep the game going.

Source: Unikrn, Twitch – Overwatch League