The long-awaited Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) will return in 2023. After being on hiatus for three years, Blizzard Entertainment announces that the competition is coming back. It will be bigger and better than before with new ways of highlighting your regions.
Overwatch’s last World Cup was in 2019, right before the pandemic. However, this does not include the Overwatch League. The league continued throughout the lockdown ever since starting in 2018. Yet, it is worth noting that the World Cup is an entirely different beast.
What is the Timeline?
Blizzard aims to start in January by announcing the 36 countries and regions competing in the OWWC. It also includes the timeline for applications to the competition committee. Each committee is responsible for organizing tryouts in their respective locations.
So, if you want to give that a shot, stay on your toes. It will be a big competition, and we’re sure hundreds of people are applying. However, it is worth noting that you will be following official Blizzard guidelines if you’re part of the committee.
While regular tryouts are happening, Blizzard mentioned a new avenue to compete for a spot for their team. It comes in an open-tournament format, and they call it the World Cup Trials. The trials will start in February, and the competition will be brutal.
Each team participating will fight for a direct spot in the tryouts for their region. However, players are still able to sign up for regular tryouts. It will start in March and requires a competitive rank of Diamond or higher.Â
So, if you wish to participate in the tryouts, start climbing your ranked ladders now! You can expect tips from us on our website or look at our Tips & Tricks videos on TikTok.
Once teams finalize their rosters in June, the OWWC qualifiers take place through six (6) regional online competitions. Only 16 will emerge and advance from the 36 teams joining the qualifiers, and they will push through to the group stages.
Group stages take place in the Fall of 2023, where teams will compete in a LAN round-robin. Only the top 8 teams will compete in a single elimination bracket to crown the OWWC Champion.
History of OWWC
Blizzard Entertainment organizes the annual international Esports tournament called the Overwatch World Cup. The first competition happened in 2016 and continued until the pandemic lockdown in 2019.
The tournament format varied for three years, with the most recent being a single elimination to qualify for the group stages. South Korea won the first three World Cups, and the recent tournament was won by the United States.
However, according to the former lead game director, Jeff Kaplan, the game wasn’t meant to have any dedication towards Esports. Yet, Dan Szymborski said the game had different gameplay and playstyle from major titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Call of Duty.
It’s great to see that the Overwatch World Cup is coming back, and we’re looking forward to more updates from Blizzard.
