On Saturday, North American team EnVyUS welcomed popular Overwatch player and streamer Brandon ‘Seagull’ Larned .
EnVyUs signed Seagull just in time for the first season of the professional Overwatch League. Dallas, Texas will be the home base of the team this season. On Saturday, the organization tweeted about signing Seagull:
We are very pleased to welcome @A_Seagull to Dallas. Pending @overwatchleague approval. pic.twitter.com/DrjVK3HUJj
— Envy (@Envy) September 23, 2017
Overwatch players and fans in the United States and North America overwhelmingly regard Seagull as the best player in North America. He previously did a stint with NRG eSports, the team owned partially by Shaquille O’Neal. In April of this year, Seagull moved from the professional sphere of eSports to spend more time streaming.
Ahead of the upcoming inaugural season of the Overwatch League, Seagull segued back into competition.
In a recent Twitch stream, Seagull explained the difficulty of choosing a team from many offers. Eventually, he chose EnVyUS due to cultural fit, roster, and skillset of the organization.
EnVyUS has had a successful history in Overwatch competitions so far. The organization won season one of OGN APEX and came in fourth during season 3. Seagull’s choice to sign with the organization comes as a bit of a surprise to those expecting him to rejoin NRG.
Before signing Seagull, the Overwatch team for EnVyUS already had a full roster. Owner Mike Rufail said that rather than replacing a current team member, Seagull will be part of a rotating lineup of professionals.
As an organization, EnvyUS also runs Call of Duty, CS:GO, Rocket League, Halo, and League of Legends teams.
The inaugural season of the Overwatch League will feature twelve teams, nine of which are based in the US. The new eSports Arena in Santa Ana, California will host all season 1 games. In the future, the league will feature typical home and away matches. The league will run similar to other US sports leagues, and will use similar player contract and revenue models.
The league schedule begins in January of 2018.
