The new Overwatch League season 2 format has been revealed
With the inaugural season of the OWL having just completed, fans are immediately looking for info on the next season of course – as it turns out, they won’t have to look all that far. Given how much of a success the first season was, the second is set to be bigger, better and all-around great!
The biggest change between the two are of course the eight new teams that have joined – their addition means that the OWL itself needs to be restructured in order to accommodate them. There’s plenty of time for this of course – the new season won’t start until Valentine’s day next year.
© Matthew Eisman | Blizzard Entertainment
That’s right, on February 14, 2019, the new season will begin. As for the way things will be going down – there will be four five-week stages taking place in the Blizzard Arena in LA. The now 20 teams will play 28 matches each throughout the season, in anywhere between zero and two matches per week.
This means that there is little chance of burnout and players are given the chance to recover and relax in between playing – an important factor when it comes to the health of the pros. According to representatives from the League, longer breaks also give teams the chance to visit their home towns rather than being away continuously.
The two divisions – Atlantic and Pacific, are welcoming four teams each, to keep things balanced. The Atlantic division will be joined by Paris, Toronto, Washington D.C. and Atlanta. Somewhat awkwardly, another Canadian team will join the Pacific division instead – along with Vancouver, Chinese cities Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou are joining that division.
The winners of each division and the following four top teams in the rankings each will qualify for post-season play-offs. Two more spots in addition to these will be filled from outside, and are open to teams that qualify via a play-in tournament directly after the regular season. This opens the field for a lot of new teams and players, and it all but guarantees an interesting season.
As mentioned, the longer breaks in between the games and phases of the season are planned in for the well-being of the players. For the same reason, there will also be an extended rest period between the second and third stage of the series – this rest period will cover a weekend-event: The All-Star Weekend, so don’t worry about getting bored even when the OWL is taking a break.
Ticket opportunities, schedules and final rosters aren’t quite decided yet, but given that there are several months still to go, that’s not surprising. What we do know is that the games will take place in the Blizzard arena, meaning that if you want to attend an event, it’ll be there. If you can’t or don’t want to, don’t worry about it – not only will the new OWL season be covered by streaming services like Twitch, but Disney’s TV coverage contract with Blizzard means that the new season will be televised on ESPN’s channels as well.
Happy watching!
