NYXL is the first esports team to call New York home. As one of the contenders in the new city-based Overwatch League, our challenge in branding the new team was to be unmistakably New York while being true to the diverse and devoted Overwatch fanbase, which had just reached 35 million players worldwide.
We found inspiration in a shared spirit of heroic optimism, something essential to New York—a city challenging anyone to prove they have what it takes—and Overwatch, a game built on inclusivity and empowerment. The idea of working together and relentlessly reaching higher informed everything we created, from the name Excelsior (meaning ‘ever upward’) and the iconic shorthand NYXL to the visual identity that reflects the energy of NYC’s streets, subways, and sidewalks.
NYXL dominated the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, and since then, Mother Design has partnered with the team’s owners to extend the brand with XL2, a new team in the Overwatch Contenders tournament series.
