We are now over a month into the e-ports 2020 calendar and we have already seen a huge amount of exciting gameplay from across the industry. As we head into February, we are now ready to see yet another great showcase esports talent, this time from those who partake in Blizzard Entertainment’s, Overwatch. as 20 teams made up players from across the world will be competing over the next 6 months in order to prove they have what it takes to be claimed the champions of the 2020 Overwatch League and win a share of a very handsome prize pool valued at $5,000,000 USD.
This is one league that fans really do not want to miss out on and we have all the information you need to be fully equipped to understand how the league works as it kicks off this weekend. Without further ado, let’s take a look at how the 2020 Overwatch League will work.
Overwatch League Season 3
Those who are participating in this year’s league have had the chance to get themselves involved since as far back as September when the signing windows opened. Since then the teams have been able to recruit players to their teams, extend contracts with existing players, and take any other steps necessary for them to ensure that they have the strongest possible team available.
This ended in November when all teams were supposed to have been finalized and all players provided the necessary paperwork which will allow them to compete in the competition. Permitting that this was all in order, the 20 teams were then allocated spots within the 2020 Overwatch League and thus will be appearing in this year’s showcase. There was no formal preliminary competition that was required for teams to be eligible, instead, the league itself functions as a means to progress to other competitions.
League format
In theory, the 2020 Overwatch League takes place in several parts. However, the main part of the season is known simply as the Regular Season. This is what begins this weekend and will run over the next 6 months up until the start of August. This will see all 20 of the participating teams battle it out in various locations each week across a total of 52 homestand weekend events. During this time, the teams will play a total of 28 matches across that season will occur on a selection of four-map sets.
While there is one overall league where the teams competing in these events will be attempting to reach the top of, the results of this are contributed to reflective of the outcomes of the matches on the two separate regional leagues where the teams within each will be competing against the other local teams from this area. These are the Atlantic Conference and The Pacific Conference. During the course of these regional leagues, the Wins and losses will count towards teams’ full-season records. This is important as it will be reflected in the seeding for the postseason, which is where all the teams are hoping to be part of the most.
The exact details of how the play-off will look are not fully cleared yet. What we do know is that this is where the best performing teams in the regular season will be competing against one another in an attempt to reach the grand finale where the outright winner for the season will be crowned. It is also likely that this will take place at some point in September, shortly after the regular season has been completed. Currently, we expect more details from this as the season progresses and we get a better idea who is shaping up to be attending.
As well as this, there are two other elements of the 2020 Overwatch League. The first is the mid-season tournament which will take place after 9 games have been played. Here the top two the top Atlantic and Pacific conference teams will participate in a single-elimination tournament made up of a semi-final and a final where there is a prize pool of $1,050,000 USD up for grabs. These payouts range from $500,000 for 1st place to $150,000 for 3/4th place. As such, it will pay in the regular season to make an impact fast. Further on in the season, there will also be a 2020 All-Star Weekend taking place, which again, we do not know too much about just yet.
List of Teams
As mentioned, there are two separate leagues that will occur simultaneously throughout the regular season, with 10 teams in each. These leagues are The Atlantic Conference and The Pacific Conference, which consists of the following teams:
Atlantic Conference:
- Boston Uprising
- London Spitfire
- New York Excelsior
- Paris Eternal
- Toronto Defiant
- Atlantic Reign Florida Mayhem
- Houston Outlaws
- Philadelphia Fusion
- Washington Justice
Pacific Conference:
- Chengdu Hunter
- Guangzhou Charge
- Hangzhou Spark
- Seoul Dynasty
- Shanghai Dragons
- Dallas Fuel
- Los Angeles Gladiators
- Los Angeles Valiant
- San Francisco Shock
- Vancouver Titans
Schedule list for the launch weekend
The regular season is set to run from February 8th – August 9th, 2020 but the rest of the tournament and its dates are yet to be determined.
This is the list for the launch weekend, week 2, and week 3 (All times are EST):
Week 1
Host: New York
Feb. 8
- 1 p.m. | Paris Eternal vs. Toronto Defiant
- 3 p.m. | New York Excelsior vs. London Spitfire
Feb. 9
- 1 p.m. | Paris Eternal vs. London Spitfire
- 3 p.m. | New York Excelsior vs. Boston Uprising
Host: Dallas
Feb. 8
- 4 p.m. | Vancouver Titans vs. L.A. Gladiators
- 6 p.m. | Dallas Fuel vs. L.A. Valiant
Feb. 9
- 4 p.m. | Vancouver Titans vs. L.A. Valiant
- 6 p.m. | Dallas Fuel vs. S.F. Shock
Week 2
Host: Shanghai [cancelled; new location TBD]
Feb. 15
- 4 p.m. | Hangzhou Spark vs. Seoul Dynasty
- 6 p.m. | Shanghai Dragons vs. Chengdu Hunters
Feb. 16
- 4 p.m. | Hangzhou Spark vs. Chengdu Hunters
- 6 p.m. | Shanghai Dragons vs. Seoul Dynasty
Host: Philadelphia
Feb. 15
- 4 p.m. | Houston Outlaws vs. Florida Mayhem
- 6 p.m. | Philadelphia Fusion vs. Washington Justice
Feb. 16
- 4 p.m. | Houston Outlaws vs. Washington Justice
- 6 p.m. | Philadelphia Fusion vs. Florida Mayhem
Week 3
Host: Guangzhou [cancelled; new location TBD]
Feb. 22
- 2 p.m. | Seoul Dynasty vs. L.A. Valiant
- 4 p.m. | Shanghai Dragons vs. L.A. Gladiators
- 6 p.m. | Guangzhou Charge vs. San Francisco Shock
Feb. 23
- 2 p.m. | Chengdu Hunters vs. L.A. Valiant
- 4 p.m. | Shanghai Dragons vs. S.F. Shock
- 6 p.m. | Guangzhou Charge vs. L.A. Gladiators
Host: Washington
Feb. 22
- 3 p.m. | Philadelphia Fusion vs. New York Excelsior
- 5 p.m. | Houston Outlaws vs. Boston Uprising
- 7 p.m. | Washington Justice vs. Paris Eternal
Feb. 23
- 3 p.m. | Houston Outlaws vs. New York Excelsior
- 5 p.m. | Philadelphia Fusion vs. Toronto Defiant
- 7 p.m. | Washington Justice vs. London Spitfire
Streaming platform list
Activision Blizzard has partnered up with Google in a deal that will move the Overwatch League to YouTube for exclusive streaming. Live broadcasts will use Google Cloud as a hosting infrastructure to “deliver superior, low-latency player experiences.”
The multi-year deal moves the Overwatch League from Twitch over to YouTube. Meaning that YouTube will be Activision Blizzard’s exclusive worldwide streaming partner (except for China)
- Watch the Overwatch League on Youtube
Streaming on esportsguide.com
One of the best sites for watching the game. The perfect guide for users that are new or already into esports. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
Predictions
With the 2020 Overwatch League consisting of all the best teams from across the world, calling an outright winner at this very early stage would be very tough. Considered by some as one of the best on the scene right now though is San Francisco Shock, but they will have tough competition for the win this year by 2019’s winners and fellow Pacific Conference team, Vancouver Titans. However, you can rule out any of the teams in the Atlantic Conference either, particularly London Spitfires or New York Excelsior. As such, it is hard to say right now but by the time we have a winner from the mid-season tournament, we would have a good idea who is going to come out on top at the end
