Popular Overwatch casters and analysts Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson and Brennon “Bren” Hook announced they currently do not have an agreement with the Overwatch League in 2022, most likely closing the door on the pair returning as casters in the upcoming seasons.
Bren & I currently do not have an agreement for 2022 with Overwatch League, marking the end of our four years as broadcast talent. We wish the league and our colleagues the best of luck for OW2.
— Josh Wilkinson (@SideshowGaming) January 26, 2022
The duo have been part of the Overwatch League broadcast team since the inaugural season. They started as desk analysts but transitioned to casting in 2020. Outside of the league, the two have also become two of the most popular Overwatch esports personalities. Notably, Sideshow is widely considered to have popularized co-streaming in the OWL community in 2019, before official co-streaming sharply rose in prevalence in esports.
Currently, the Overwatch League has not confirmed any of its talent for the 2022 season. Sideshow stated in a follow-up tweet that he intends to still be involved with OWL content creation in the form of Plat Chat Podcast and more co-streaming.
I genuinely don't know if I'll be involved in the CDL this year. The last two years have been frustrating. We had more staffing and budget than ever on production side and felt we went backwards in so many ways. I fought battles internally and maybe that's hurting me now.
— Clint "Maven" Evans (@Maven) January 18, 2022
This announcement comes on the heels of a similar occurrence in the Call of Duty League, where popular casters Clint “Maven” Evans and Joe “MerK” DeLuca announced that they, too, had no current involvement with CDL in 2022. Some have speculated that the pair’s open criticisms of the game led to their exclusion from the 2022 season. Call of Duty fans have been clamoring on official broadcasts for the two to return, with no word yet on whether they will.
