On January 10,the Overwatch Leaguebegan its inaugural season, bringing professional esports to several major cities around the world and pitting the best players inBlizzard’s popular hero shooteragainst each other in a multi-stage competition. Unlike the structure of other esports leagues, the Overwatch League’s 12 teams each represent particular regions, giving fans a chance to root for their hometown favorite as they would in traditional sports, and it’s set to be among the most high-profile esports leagues in existence. Here is everything you need to know about Overwatch League.
What is the Overwatch League?
Overwatch League is developerBlizzard Entertainment’sown professional esports competition, pitting 12 teams from 11 cities around the world against each other in a 20-week season that is capped off with playoffsfeaturing the top six teamsand a grand final in July. All matches will be held at theBlizzard Arena in Los Angelesfor the first season.
Twelve matches will take place during each week of the season, with each team playing twice from Wednesday through Saturday for 40 matches per team, per season. This is substantially longer than other esports leagues such as the North America League of Legends Championship Series, which only runs for nine weeks per season.
At the conclusion of each five-week stage of the regular season, title matches take place between the top four teams with a prize pool of $125,000. At the end of the regular season, the six teams with the best regular season records will advance to the playoffs. The top seed in each of the two divisions will receive a first-round bye (check current standingshere). All playersreceive, at minimum,a $50,000 salary during the season, and the top team will take home at least $1 million in prize money.Players will take homeat least 50 percent of team bonuses, as well.
These figures are nowhere close to the cost of joining the league, however.According to ESPN, smaller-market teams can join for around $15 million, while those in bigger cities could pay even more.
Each team must have at least six players on its roster in order to compete in anOverwatchmatch, with no more than 12 allowed in total. Thus far, most team rosters have multiple substitutes, though only three teams have full rosters. Eachplayer will be signedto a one-year contract with a second-year option.
Though the impact that The Overwatch League will have on competitiveOverwatchoverall remains to be seen, it could pave the way for more international focus on esports as a whole, where South Korean players dominate the current landscape.According to Cloud9 president Daniel Fiden— behind the London Spitfire — the regional approach will help cultivate top-level players around the world (and specifically beyond Seoul).
How can I watch it?
The Overwatch League has partnered with Twitch to broadcast every single match to fans for the league’s first two seasons. Twitch will be the exclusive third-party broadcaster of The Overwatch League in all countries except China, and streams will be available in English, Korean, and French. Broadcasts will be available for the regular season as well as the playoffs and championship.
Tune in to the Overwatch league in English
Tune in to the Overwatch league in Korean
Tune in to the Overwatch league in French
Dedicated fans will also have the opportunity to use specialOverwatch“cheermotes” within Twitch chat, and exclusive in-game items will be given to “the most steadfast viewers,” as well.
Stay updated on the go
An Overwatch League smartphone app is now available for bothiOSandAndroiddevices. The app not only offers information on the latest scores and overall standings for the season, but also access to special videos and new from the league.
If you sign into your Blizzard account in the app, you may also follow your favorite teams and set alerts for whenever they’re about to play so you never miss a game again. The app even allows you to choose which language to watch game streams in, and you can choose to automatically hide scores so you aren’t spoiled on any games you missed.
The Overwatch League consists of 12 teams across the United States, Europe, and Asia, divided into two divisions: Atlantic and Pacific.
Atlantic Division
Boston Uprising
Head coach:Dae hee “Crusty” Park
Florida Mayhem
Head coach:Vytis “Mineral” Lasaitis
Houston Outlaws
Head coach:Tae-Yeong “TaiRong” Kim
London Spitfire
Head coach: Beoum-Jun “Bishop” Lee
New York Excelsior
Head coach:Hyun Sang “Pavane” Yu
Philadelphia Fusion
Head coach:Yann “Kirby” Luu
Pacific Division
Dallas Fuel
Head coach:Kyle “KyKy” Souder
Los Angeles Gladiators
Head coach:David “dpei” Pei
Los Angeles Valiant
Head coach:Joshua “dzMins” Kim
San Francisco Shock
Head coach:Brad Rajani
Seoul Dynasty
Head coach:Baek Kwang-jin
Shanghai Dragons
Head coach:Chen “U4” Congshan
Uniforms and in-game currency
The uniforms for each team in The Overwatch League are designed with the team’s logo in the center, as well as the league’s logo in the bottom right corner (for those wearing it.) An example can be seen below:
So they can be easily identified during matches, each team also hasspecial in-game skinsfor every character available inOverwatch,corresponding to the colors of their real-life uniforms. To aid the spectator experience, in-game user interface and particle effects have also been altered to match team color schemes. These correspond to each of the uniforms worn be teams’ players, and will be available for purchase by everyone using a special, new in-game currency. The proceeds from sales will go to support the corresponding teams, though Blizzard will give enough tokens for every player to purchase one complimentary skin in early 2018 when the league launches.
What about existingOverwatchtournaments?
The Overwatch League is only possible because Blizzard’s premier shooter already has a globally popular tournament scene, atop which the new league will sit. Anyone who rises sufficiently in the game’s Ranked competitive play mode will be eligible for the Open Division, which will be divided into several tournaments for top-level amateurs who may hold professional aspirations.
The winners of these Open Division tournaments will go on to compete in Overwatch Contenders tournaments in seven regions around the world. In addition to the current Contenders tournaments in North America and Europe, this will include three existing, previously non-Blizzard tournaments in Korea, China, and the Pacific, as well as new regional tournaments in South America and Australia. Performing well in Contenders tournaments will be the best shot that aspiring pros have of being scouted by Overwatch League teams.
