Overwatch World Cup Prize Pool
Looking to the future and we can already see some big-money events being lined up on the horizon. Fortnite enjoyed a successful World Cup event in 2019 and the World Cup 2020 looks set to keep up with the overall prize pool set to at least $30 million. Not bad for a free game that was released in 2017. A new Overwatch League was announced by Blizzard Entertainment in 2016, and the first season started in January 2018, offering more than $3.5 million in prize money. The prize pool for the 2019 season is even larger $5 million. Overwatch tournaments have had an exciting past and look certain to deliver even more excitement in the future. On the other hand, there are those who suggest a massive $4.25 million prize pool and revised structure is exactly what the OWL needs to return to its prior victorious form. Well, from the 16th of April, the latter party may reign supreme, as the Overwatch League 2021 season structure has been revealed, and it looks pretty damn good. How much is the Overwatch World Cup Prize Pool? The Overwatch World Cup is more focused on pride than prize money. All of the top eight teams are slated to take home $16,000. This tournament is.
Overwatch World Cup Prize Pools
| 2021 Overwatch League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Overwatch League |
| Sport | Overwatch |
| Duration | April 16 – August 21 August – September (Playoffs) |
| Number of matches | 16 |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| TV partner(s) | YouTube |
| Overwatch League seasons | |
2022 → | |
The 2021 Overwatch League season will be the fourth season of the Overwatch League (OWL), a professional esports league for the video game Overwatch. The regular season will begin on April 16, 2021 and conclude on August 21. The season will feature four midseason tournaments throughout the regular season along with a new point system for season playoff seeding. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches will be played online, and teams will be split into two geographical regions.
League changes[edit]
Regions[edit]
After all matches were rescheduled to be played strictly online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season saw the OWL divide teams into to regions, North America and Asia, in an effort to reduce lag. For the 2021 season, the twenty teams will be divided into two regions, the East and West. Eight teams from China and South Korea will compete in the East Region, while twelve teams from North America and Europe will compete in the West Division.[1]
Midseason tournaments[edit]
The league will expand upon the tournament format that was introduced in the 2020 season. Four standalone tournaments, the May Melee, June Joust, Summer Showdown, and Countdown Cup, will be spread throughout the regular season with teams from both regions competing against each other.[2] Teams in each region will play in regional qualifier matches, and the top four teams from each region will qualify and compete in the four tournaments.[3] In an effort to minimize lag, the top teams from the West Region will travel to Hawaii, where they will face the top teams from the East Region, with the matches played via a directly routed connection from Hawaii to Asia.[4]
Season playoffs seeding[edit]
Contrasted to previous seasons, where playoff seeding was determined by teams' win-loss record throughout the regular season, the league will be implementing a point system to determine regular season standings. Every win in the regular season will earn a team one point. A first, second, or third place finish in each midseason tournament will earn the placing team an additional three, two, or one point, respectively. Teams with the highest number of points at the end of the regular season will qualify for the season playoffs.[5]
Regular season[edit]
Overall standings[edit]
2021 Overwatch League East standings | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | Conference | PTS | W | L | PCT | P | MR | MD | STK |
| Playoffs | ||||||||||
| 1 | Chengdu Hunters | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Guangzhou Charge | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Hangzhou Spark | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Los Angeles Valiant | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | New York Excelsior | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Philadelphia Fusion | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Seoul Dynasty | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Shanghai Dragons | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
2021 Overwatch League West standings | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | Conference | PTS | W | L | PCT | P | MR | MD | STK |
| Playoffs | ||||||||||
| 1 | Atlanta Reign | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Boston Uprising | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Dallas Fuel | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Florida Mayhem | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Houston Outlaws | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | London Spitfire | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Los Angeles Gladiators | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Paris Eternal | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | San Francisco Shock | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Toronto Defiant | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Vancouver Titans | PAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
| 1 | Washington Justice | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0–0–0 | ±0 | |
Winnings[edit]
Teams in the 2021 season will compete for a total prize pool of US$4,250,000 across midseason tournaments and playoffs.[6] By League rules, at least 50% of these winnings are split among the team's members, the remaining going to the team's owner.
References[edit]
- ^Amenabar, Teddy (January 14, 2021). 'Overwatch League wants to 'level-up' online matches, tournaments for 2021 season'. The Washington Post. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^Richardson, Liz (January 14, 2021). 'Overwatch League announces 2021 season structure, will begin in April'. Dot Esports. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^Hitt, Kevin (January 14, 2021). 'Overwatch League Announces 2021 Format and Changes'. The Esports Observer. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^Spector, Jon (January 14, 2021). 'Overwatch League Community Update: 2021 Season Structure'. The Overwatch League. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^Richardson, Liz (February 20, 2021). 'The Overwatch League returns on April 16'. Dot Esports. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^Murray, Trent (February 22, 2021). 'Overwatch League Announces 2021 Schedule, $4.25M Prize Pool'. The Esports Observer. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
External links[edit]
At last, the world’s greatest teams have been assembled, and will be representing their countries at BlizzCon later next month. All 16 teams representing countries from the Americas, Europe and APAC (Asia-Pacific) will travel to Southern California for BlizzCon in the hopes of taking home the Overwatch World Cup title.
Overwatch World Cup Prize Pool World Cup
The format of the competition is “round-robin,” meaning every team will play against every other team in the group stages. After this, they will move on to single-elimination finals to decide the winner.
Regional qualifiers have taken place over the last month and all 16 teams, and their players, are set. Fans were given the opportunity to vote for players to fill their countries roster, as well as two “captain picks.” Here are the countries that have qualified:
- Team USA
- Team Canada
- Team Brazil
- Team Chile
- Team Sweden
- Team Germany
- Team France
- Team Finland
- Team Russia
- Team Spain
- Team China
- Team South Korea
- Team Taiwan
- Team Singapore
- Team Thailand
- Team ANZ (Australia and New Zealand)
Unlike many of the event’s competitors, the Overwatch World Cup will not have a prize pool for this exhibition, but promises players an appearance bonus, as well as their trip to BlizzCon covered. As opposed to other esports events, the Overwatch World Cup has its sights set on as many countries participating as possible, having a team from each to represent.
Following the success of Overwatch at release, it’s fair to say a competitive scene will bring a lot to the game. Not only this, but they are hopeful that this event will provide healthy competition between other esports events.
If you’re looking for more details, head over to the <a href='https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/worldcup' target='blank”>Overwatch website for updates on schedules and how to watch the event.
Which country do you think will emerge victorious at the Overwatch World Cup? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us <a href='https://twitter.com/GAMURScom' target='blank”>@GAMURScom.
Image credits: @thinkbigwaves.