By Canadian Press

Vancouver esports entry in the Overwatch League to be known as the Titans

Dec 1, 2018 | 3:34 PM

Vancouver’s expansion Overwatch League esports team will be known as the Titans.

The Vancouver Titans will join the Toronto Defiant and six other new teams for 2019: Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Paris, and Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou, China.

The inaugural 2018 Overwatch season featured 12 teams: Boston Uprising, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, London Spitfire, New York Excelsior and Philadelphia Fusion in the Atlantic Division and Dallas Fuel, Los Angeles Gladiators, Los Angeles Valiant, San Francisco Shock, Seoul Dynasty and Shanghai Dragons in the Pacific Division.

The Titans are owned by the Aquilini Group, owner of the Vancouver Canucks. The esports team’s roster, management and branding were officially unveiled Saturday at Rogers Arena before the NHL game between the Canucks and Dallas Stars.

The Overwatch League season kicks off Feb. 14.

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“In choosing our identity we wanted to introduce a team that would resonate with fans in the Pacific Northwest,” Francesco Aquilini, managing director of the Aquilini Group, said in a statement. “With a local feel and an experienced, skilled team, we are ready and can’t wait to have the Titans compete at the highest level in esports.”

The Titans colours will be blue (primary), green (secondary) and white (accents), a combination the team says represents “Vancouver’s greenery surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.”

The Titans logo features a Sasquatch with the monogram of a ‘V’ in the nose for Vancouver, and a mountain range on the top of its head.

“The team name of the Titans is indicative of the traits associated with the Sasquatch — a powerful, imposing, and mythical being.”

The Aquilini Group has partnered with Luminosity Gaming, an esports veteran, to steer the team.

The Titans team roster includes former members of RunAway, a successful Overwatch squad.

London won the inaugural league championship — and US$1 million — in July, defeating Philadelphia 3-0 at a soldout Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Philadelphia collected US$400,000 as runner-up.

The league is the brainchild of Overwatch developer Blizzard Entertainment, whose gaming portfolio also includes “World of Warcraft’” and “StarCraft.” Overwatch has more than 30 million players.

The league plans to continue staging its games at Blizzard’s esports arena in Burbank, Calif., in 2019 with plans to stage games in the franchise cities in 2020.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press