what is the overwatch champions series (owcs)?
The Overwatch Champions Series (or OWCS) is the professional eSports league for Blizzard's Overwatch 2. Ran by Blizzard in collaboration with FACEIT (NA and EMEA) and WDG (ASIA), OWCS serves as a replacement to the previous Overwatch League (2017-2023) and began on February 2024.
history of the overwatch champions series
Prior to the end of the 6th season of the Overwatch League, it had been revealed that francise owners were given the option to either stay in the Overwatch League, or leave with $6 million. It wouldn't be until November 8th, a month and a week after the final OWL match, that Blizzard revealed that they were workig on a new format for competitive Overwatch. On January 23rd, 2024, a video was released detailing the new competitive Overwatch system, the Overwatch Champions League; in collaboration with German e-sports company FACEIT for its NA and EMEA regions, while WDG Esports helped in its Asia region (Korea, Japan, and Pacific). Matches officially started being streamed on the 26th of February in Japan, while Korea and NA/EMEA began their matches on the 1st of March. After a swiss stage consisting of up-to 512 teams, the final 16 teams from all regions fight to make top 8, which leads to Dreamhack Dallas, the first LAN event of OWCS. Dreamhack Dallas took place from May 31 to June 2, with Korean team Crazy Raccoons (previously WAC) winning the tournament.
The second (or rather, third) stage of OWCS has yet to begin, but once both stages are over, the top 8 teams will be going to Dreamhack Stockholm, the second LAN tournament in OWCS' short history. With Overwatch's inclusion in the Esports World Cup, many orgs began to invest in OWCS, such as "NRG" and the "Toronto Ultra" (two orgs that were previously in the Overwatch League) as well as Japanese org "Crazy Raccoon", and European orgs "ENCE" and "Spacestation Gaming (SSG)", to name a few.
how i got into owcs
I first dipped my toes into competitive Overwatch back during the summer of 2019, but it wouldn't be until June 2022 when I truly got into the Overwatch League. From the few weeks that I watched OWL in 2019 and the fact that they were located remotely close to me, I decided to support the Los Angeles Gladiators through the Kickoff Clash, Midsummer Madness (a.k.a best time of my life) and the slightly dissapointing end to their season. I would go on to support the Florida Mayhem and Hangzhou Spark for the final season of the Overwatch League. Ever since the announcement of the Overwatch Champions Series, I have been carefully following the circuit since scrims, and support the NRG Shock.
As to why I enjoy Overwatch Esports so much? I'm not sure, but I don't think everything has to have a reason. It brings me joy, its entretaining, it gives me something to hold out for each week. And while trying to find people with the same interest as me is pain-staking, the small community it garners is enough for me.