Blizzard Entertainment announced on Overwatch’s website the details of theOverwatch World Cup that will end on the BlizzCon 2016stage.
The game has not been out for six months, yet the hype and pushby Blizzard for Overwatch to be a huge competitive game is real. Thetournament will be an exhibition of players around the world toshowcase the talent from various regions and countries.
There is not a prize pool up for grabs, but players who make itpast the exhibition qualifiers will receive a paid trip to BlizzConas well as an appearance bonus. What is even more interesting,is that citizens of regions can nominate non-professional playersto represent them.
As for who gets to play, it will go like this:
- On Aug. 11, nations and regions will vote on the players theywould like to see on their roster.
- After voting ends, players will play in online qualifiers.These will be best-of-three, single-elimination onlinematches.
3. At the end of the online qualifers, there will be 16 teamsgoing to BlizzCon. There will be six European teams, sixAsia-Pacific teams and four from the Americas.
The following teams will automatically advance to the BlizzConexhibition for a variety of factors outlined in the post:
- United States
- Canada
- Brazil
- China
- South Korea
- Australia
- New Zealand
To see the full list of countries and regions, make sure toreference the image from the Overwatch news postbelow.
Currently, rules have not been laid out by Blizzard. It is alsouncertain of how the exhibition at BlizzCon will be streamed*because there is the possibility that online spectators will haveto purchase a BlizzCon 2016 Virtual Ticket, a $39.99 value, to watchthe event. Hopefully, Blizzard will stream the events on Twitch forthose who do not want to pay $40 to watch the Overwatch tournamentalone.
How do you feel about Overwatch World Cup so early into thegame’s lifespan? Let us know in the comments and be sure to followour Twitter, @GAMURScom, to keep up with esports news andcoverage.
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*I have reached out to Blizzard Entertainment and Overwatchfor comment on stream possibilities. I have not receivedinformation back, but I will update this post and post on Twitterabout the response.
Image: Offical Overwatch World Cup post on Overwatch’swebsite.
