The expansion Vancouver Overwatch League team announced Sunday that it is partnering with Canadian esports organization Luminosity Gaming.
The Vancouver franchise is one of the new eight teams that will be joining the Overwatch League in its second season of official competition for the Blizzard-published title.
The announcement came from the Vancouver team's official Twitter feed, which posted a picture showing the Vancouver Canucks logo, the Luminosity Gaming logo and the OWL logo. Aquilini Investment Group, owner of the new OWL club, also owns Canucks Sports & Entertainment, which is the parent group of the NHL's Canucks and their home venue, Rogers Arena.
The OWL team also issued an official statement: "To ensure we hit the ground running, we have teamed up with leading Canadian esports organization Luminosity Gaming and its CEO Steve Maida. They will be working closely with us to help craft and implement our strategy surrounding player acquisition, key staffing, day-to-day operations, marketing and more."
Maida said in a statement, "I'm thrilled and humbled to be teaming up with the Vancouver Canucks and the Aquilini family. I want to thank them for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. Their organization, family & leadership are all first class. I am confident this will be a successful pairing and hope to make the organization and all of the fans across Vancouver, the Pacific Northwest and Canada proud."
Blizzard's Vancouver franchise will have one of the most successful esports organizations in the ever-growing industry helping the OWL team build a strong roster and brand, as Luminosity Gaming has seen a great deal of success in the likes of Overwatch, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) and other titles.
Luminosity's history in the esports scene for Blizzard's first-person shooter includes having the likes of Brandon "Seagull" Larned and Anthony "harbleu" Ballo competing.