Blizzard partners with ESL FACEIT Group for the future of Overwatch 2 esports

Blizzard has partnered up with ESL FACEIT Group for the future of Overwatch 2 esports in 2024, creating the Overwatch Champions Series to replace the now-defunct Overwatch League (OWL). 

2023 was Overwatch League’s swan song, leaving fans on a bitter note as the ambitious league shuttered its doors amid the various problems the league was facing.

And as Blizzard closed OWL, they announced something new was on the horizon. Though no exact details were provided, until now.

Announced on January 23, Blizzard is partnering with ESL FACEIT Group in a multi-year agreement to create the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS), an open-circuit league that will host regional and international tournaments across the world. 

ESL FACEIT Group to run the Overwatch Champions Series in a post-OWL world 

“A thriving esports scene is important to a game as competitive as Overwatch 2,” said Jared Neuss, Executive Producer of Overwatch 2 in a press statement. “And we’re very excited to be entering this next era for the franchise with the ESL FACEIT Group.” 

The OWCS calendar will look quite different from typical OWL, resembling how the last season of the league functioned, with a midseason international tournament, and culminating in an end-of-year LAN with regional tournaments in between.

ESL

The season starts in February where teams will play in their regional tournament, with North America, EMEA, and Asia each getting their own. ESL FACEIT Group will be running the NA and EMEA tournaments, and the Korean tournament organizer WDG will be running the Asian tournament. 

The first regional tournament starts in February and ends in April which will determine the teams that qualify for the midseason Major. There will then be an offseason from June to July, with the second regional tournament starting again from August to October, qualifying the teams for the end-of-year finals in November. 

ESL

In each regional tournament, teams will play through a Swiss Stage and a group stage to qualify for the regional main event, which will be an eight-team double-elimination bracket. The regional tournaments will determine the teams that will qualify for the international LANs. 

The midseason Major and end-of-year World Finals will be held in DreamHack Dallas and DreamHack Stockholm respectively. 

The Dallas Major will run from May 31 to June 2, and the Stockholm World Finals will run from November 22 to 24. And the Stockholm Finals also heralds the first live tier 1 OW event in EU in more than five years.

There is currently no information on exact prize pools for the year of competition ahead.