Blizzard has just announced “Overwatch Contenders,” what it’s calling a “development league for aspiring Overwatch League professionals.”
“Over the first year of organized Overwatch competition, we’ve seen an incredible exhibition of skill at Overwatch APEX in South Korea, the Overwatch Pacific Championship in the Asia-Pacific region, and the Overwatch Premier Series in China. It’s time to bring that level of competition to the West. If you and your team have what it takes to compete with the best in the West, Overwatch Contenders is your chance to shine. To find the top teams on the North American and European servers, Season Zero of Overwatch Contenders will be an open signup, online-only qualifier to determine the top eight teams in each of those two regions. Each of these tournaments will have a prize pool of USD $50,000.”
Registration in North America and Europe has opened today and will run through early June with playoffs in early July. An open division will follow in 2018 to “offer emerging teams a path to Overwatch Contenders seasons in each region.”
This announcement seems an odd coincidence, as earlier this month, no less than four pro e-sports organizations cut loose their Overwatch teams, some claiming that Blizzard was requiring a $20M entry fee with no promise of a return before 2021, which Blizzard did not directly deny, though the company did suggest teams were spreading “misinformation” for negotiation purposes.
In today’s press release, Blizzard says, “There is more than cash on the line – with organizations looking to fill their rosters for the launch of the Overwatch League, all eyes will be watching this summer’s competitive showcase.”
