Overwatch Esports Return with the Overwatch Champions Series

The Overwatch esports have returned with the Overwatch Champions Series, an open tournament system created by Faceit, a subsidiary of Savvy Games Group.

The Overwatch League declared its demise in November following six seasons. John Nomis, the associate PR manager for Overwatch League, announced at the time that Overwatch esports would return, despite the League’s demise. He stated, “We are transitioning from the Overwatch League and evolving competitive Overwatch in a new direction.” The Overwatch Champions Series, or OWCS, was announced today, so we now know what form of competitive Overwatch will take in 2024.

“The OWCS is our new premiere international competitive circuit open to players across North America (NA), Europe, Middle East, and North Africa (EMEA), and Asia,” read the announcement post.

The announcement post stated, “Open to players across North America (NA), Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EMEA), and Asia, the OWCS is our new premiere international competitive circuit.”

The Overwatch Champions Series will follow an open format instead of the OWL’s franchise system. Teams of players from eligible regions will form and compete in open qualifiers, advancing to regional competitions and, finally, the two live events: DreamHack Dallas will host the major tournament in the summer, and DreamHack Stockholm will host the finals in November.

Owing to its vast size, the Asia region’s tournaments follow a slightly different format and are divided into three smaller regions: South Korea, Japan, and the Pacific.

Strangely, Australia and New Zealand were once part of the Pacific region. However, these nations are not included in the OWCS Pacific area. “We’re working with [FACEIT] to add consistent Overwatch tournaments to other regions where OWCS is not operating,” Overwatch communications lead Kevin Scarpati stated in an email. (Don’t worry, South America; even though your region is oddly absent, you can still participate as a member of North America.)