The action of Overwatch. takes place in a technologically advanced, highly stylized future earth. In a time of global crisis, an international task force of soldiers, scientists, adventurers, and oddities known as Overwatch had come together to restore peace to a war-torn world. After many years, the group’s influence waned, and it was eventually disbanded. Overwatch might be gone now . . . but the world still needs heroes.

With an emphasis on accessibility and pure fun, Overwatch. brings Blizzard’s signature easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay to the FPS genre. Harnessing the power of their hero of choice, players will join forces in teams of six and battle each other across a range of futuristic global locations, from the hologram-lit streets of London to a bazaar in the shadows of a high-tech Egyptian pyramid. Every battlefield is iconic and built to highlight each character’s unique abilities, and fights can shift from streets to rooftops to open skies within the span of a breath.

While each hero represents a formidable force on their own, players can amplify their potential by assembling into a well-balanced team and creatively combining powers. No matter which hero or playstyle they prefer, players will be able to team up and accomplish the incredible in Overwatch.

As players compete in matches—win or lose—they’ll level up and earn Loot Boxes, each containing a combination of four items players can use to customize their heroes, including in-game credits and cosmetic goodies including skins, sprays, voice lines, and new animations. Among these items are legendary skins that dramatically alter heroes’ appearances, such as the post-apocalyptic Scavenger D.Va, or Lone Wolf Hanzo, which fills Overwatch’s expert bowman with the spirit of the wild.

With the final stage of the 2019 Overwatch League season on the horizon, we are drawing ever closer to 2020. Next year will be the season of homecomings, with matches breaking away from Los Angeles and playing out at home venues across the globe. 

When we launched the league, we divided the teams into Atlantic and Pacific Divisions to prepare for this evolution. In 2020, we are bringing the Overwatch League to the hometown fans and showcasing our amazing players around the globe, but we need to be mindful of the challenges of team travel. To that end, the Pacific and Atlantic Divisions will become the Pacific and Atlantic Conferences, and further split into four divisions: Atlantic North, Atlantic South, Pacific East, and Pacific West. 

2020 DIVISIONS

Atlantic Conference

• North Division:
  • Boston Uprising
  • London Spitfire
  • New York Excelsior
  • Paris Eternal
  • Toronto Defiant
• South Division:
  • Atlanta Reign
  • Florida Mayhem
  • Houston Outlaws
  • Philadelphia Fusion
  • Washington Justice

Pacific Conference

• East Division:
  • Chengdu Hunters
  • Guangzhou Charge
  • Hangzhou Spark
  • Shanghai Dragons
  • Seoul Dynasty
• West Division:
  • Dallas Fuel
  • Los Angeles Valiant
  • Los Angeles Gladiators
  • San Francisco Shock
  • Vancouver Titans

SCHEDULING

Since 2017, Blizzard Arena Los Angeles has been the epicenter of our story. Next year, our global league is going home—actually, to many homes, with 52 homestand weekend events hosted at venues across the world.

Each team will host two homestands. On top of those, teams in each division will also collectively host three additional regular-season events in their home territories.

The 2020 season will begin in February next year and conclude in August. Teams will play 28 matches over the course of the regular season, facing in-conference opponents twice each and out-of-conference teams once each. All regular-season matches will be played on weekends, with times optimized for local markets.

The full 2020 schedule will be released next month, with tickets going on sale shortly after so you can plan your adventures with your friends.

PLAYOFFS TOURNAMENT

Due to travel and scheduling requirements, the 2020 season will no longer be split into stages, but we will have an awesome midseason All-Stars event. This means we will have Overwatch League matches every week of the season! But don’t worry—teams will still have time to rest in their designated bye weeks, which will differ from team to team.

At the conclusion of our season, we will bring the best teams together for an epic tournament to crown a champion at our Grand Finals.

We can’t wait to share more details about 2020 soon, beginning with the release of the schedule in August.