While the Overwatch League may not be officially launched yet, Blizzard isn’t slowing down when it comes to building the foundation for the league. A few weeks ago, it held Season Zero of Overwatch Contenders, the development league for aspiring professionals Overwatch players, which saw over a thousand teams compete to qualify for Season One. Now, Blizzard has announced another eSport league for Overwatch, the Overwatch Open Division.
Similarly to Season Zero of Overwatch Contenders, the Open Division is open for anyone to join, as long as they’re ranked Masters and above. The Overwatch Open division consists of 7 weeks of swiss format, with one playday per week, followed by a playoff with 8 teams over 2 days.
“To compete in the Open Division, you must achieve Master rank or higher (skill rating 3500+) in Competitive Play’s most recent season. You’ll face other top-ranked players and teams in your region in a structured format, and begin an exciting, challenging journey towards the world of professional Overwatch.”
Furthermore, signing up for the Overwatch Open Division isn’t only restricted to premade teams, players can also sign up as free agents. They can then proactively search for team mates before contacting admins to indicate that they have a team. Allowing free agents to sign up allows them to go through the eligibility scan conducted by Blizzard.
Currently, the Open Division is divided into seven regions—Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Latin American Spanish Speaking Countries, Brazil, Australia/New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. Competitors in the Open Division who complete their regular season games will earn $10 in Blizzard Balance. The top team in each region will be awarded $50 in Blizzard Balance for each player. Second place gets $40 per player, while third place gets $30 per player, and fourth place gets $20 per player.
Furthermore, Blizzard has noted that the Overwatch Open Division will offer top teams a pathway to Overwatch Contenders (which will no longer be holding open invitationals like it did for Season Zero). As a result, the current progression Blizzard seems to have created when it comes to Overwatch eSports is advancing from the Overwatch Open Division to Overwatch Contenders. Similarly, it stands to reason that the Overwatch League is placed higher than Overwatch Contenders.
You can find out more about the Overwatch Open Division here.
