Gone are the days when you could only watch competitive Overwatch from Wednesday through Saturday. Overwatch Contenders started over the weekend, adding competitive Overwatch to the schedule across the entire week. With 84 teams across seven regions, there’s Overwatch on all the time.
Overwatch Contenders acts as a developmental league for Blizzard’s Overwatch League. Nine Overwatch League teams field Contenders rosters, while the rest of the teams have proven themselves through a qualification process. It’s a major expansion from last year’s Contenders tournaments, which featured teams from Europe and North America.
Who’s playing?
Australia
- Alter Ego
- Blank Blue
- Darksided
- JAM Gaming
- Kanga Esports
- Legacy Esports
- Masterminds GC
- Moonlight
- NoC Predators
- SereNity
- Sydney Drop Bears
- Tainted Minds
China
- Team CC (Shanghai Dragons’ Contenders team)
- Legend Young Beyond
- LGD Gaming
- LinGan Esports
- Lucky Future
- T1w Esports Club
- Vici Gaming
- Team Skadi’s Gift
- Moss Seven Club
- Super Number One
- Lucky Future Zenith
- Hero Tactiurn Panther
Europe
- British Hurricane (London Spitfire’s Contenders team)
- Mosaic Esports
- Bazooka Puppiez
- Eagle Gaming
- Team Singularity
- Team Gigantti
- Orgless and Hungry
- CIS Hope
- Angry Titans
- Copenhagen Flames
- That’s a Disband
- Young and Beautiful
Korea
- BlossoM
- Team KongDoo Panthera
- Element Mystic
- Foxes
- RunAway
- WGS Laurel Nine
- X6-Gaming
- O2 Ardeont
- Seven
- MVP Space
- Meta Bellum
- Meta Athena
North America
- Fusion University (Philadelphia Fusions’ Contenders team)
- Gladiators Legion (Los Angeles Gladiators’ Contenders team)
- Mayhem Academy (Florida Mayhem’s Contenders team)
- NRG Esports (San Francisco Shock’s Contenders team)
- OpTic Academy (Houston Outlaws’ Contenders team)
- Toronto Esports (Boston Uprising’s Contenders team)
- XL2 Academy (New York Excelsior’s Contenders team)
- EnVision Esports
- Simplicity
- Grizzlys Esports
- Last Night’s Leftovers
- Bye Week
Pacific
- Talon Esports
- Blank Esports
- Hong Kong Attitude
- Yoshimoto Encount
- Machi Esports
- MEGA Esports
- DeToNator.KOREA
- Xavier Esports
- Bazaar
- A Bang
- Chaos Theory
- OneShine Esports
South America
- Brasil Gaming House
- Nocturns Gaming
- Isurus Gaming
- Just W
- Black Dragons Esports
- paiN Gaming
- Predators Esports
- Encore Esports
- UP Gaming
- Caverna Esports
- Dogma Esports
- WS Esports
How do I watch?
With so many games across all regions, it’s going to be hard to miss out on Overwatch Contenders. All games will be livestreamed, with English streams for Contenders North America, Europe, Australia, and South Korea.
South Korea, of course, will have its own Korean stream, too. All of these can be found on Twitch.
Contenders China will be broadcast through a partnership with NetEase CC, Zhangi TV, and Panda TV. Contenders Pacific will be streamed in Chinese on Twitch.The South American Contenders tournament will be streamed in Spanish and Portuguese.
A full schedule for each region is available on the Overwatch Contenders site.
What’s on the line?
Prize pools vary by Contenders region, but most regions—North America, Europe, China,and Korea—will award $30,000 to the first place teams, with money decreasing through the top eight teams. Teams earn $587 per win and $330 per loss, according to the Contenders rules. In the Pacific region, the top prize is just over $22,000, with $440 awarded for a win and $248 awarded for a loss.
South America and Australia get a first-place prize of just $7,500, with $147 per win and $83 per loss.
But more than that, Overwatch Contenders is a place for players to make themselves known to Overwatch League teams and prove themselves worthy for the big stage.
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