San Francisco Shock signs first Japanese player in history of Overwatch League

As an almost five-year-old esport, most of Overwatch's history has seen players from very specific regions take the spotlight, namely those hailing from countries like South Korea or the United States, with some European representation sprinkled throughout with France, Sweden, and Finland as the biggest standouts.

Now, we can add Japan to the list of countries that have had at least one representative in the Overwatch League, as San Francisco Shock announced damage-dealer Sean Taiyo "Ta1yo" Henderson to their roster.

“Our team wasn't quite stacked enough. Please welcome ta1yo_tv from Third Impact to the Shock Family!” said the organisation in their announcement Tweet.

The DPS player can be considered a veteran of the scene, having a career that dates back to late 2016. A three-time World Cup participant with Team Japan, Ta1yo has played across multiple regions of Contenders (Pacific and North America) representing squads like CYCLOPS Gaming, Jupiter, and most recently Third Impact, where he managed a 2nd place finish this past season, his best performance in the scene.

As a hitscan specialist, Ta1yo is also known for being a prolific Genji, a role he was signed to fill after the trade of Minho "Architect" Park to the Hangzhou Spark, putting an end to main tank Matthew "Super" DeLisi's dream of shining in the role after clowning on Boston Uprising this past weekend.

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San Francisco Shock is set to play Florida Mayhem this next July 24, in what will most likely be the Japanese's debut. You can watch it on the official Overwatch League YouTube channel.