It has been almost exactly 1 year since the Overwatch League was announced at Blizzcon 2016. Since then there has been a lot of discussion and back and forth about teams, audience interests and the format.

Now there are only 4 weeks to the preseason and Blizzard has revealed the exact details about dates and formats.

Overwatch - Pre-Season December 6-9

In this, all 12 teams compete in show matches live in the Blizzard Arena Los Angeles. After this foretaste, the regular season on January 10, 2018.

The first season will be divided into 4 phases, each lasting 5 weeks.

• Phase 1: January 10th to February 10th
• Phase 2: February 21 to March 24
• Phase 3: April 4th to May 5th
• Phase 4: May 16 to June 16

In each phase there are weekly official matches from Wednesday to Saturday, these also take place in the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles.

As the “mini finals” of each phase, there are 2 title matches on the last Saturday of each phase, in which the 3 top teams compete against each other and for prize money of $ 125,000 fight.

As a result, teams that are far behind after 1-2 phases in the race for the postseason / playoffs are still motivated to give everything in the last phases to secure the prize money.

The 12 teams

In general, the 12 teams are divided into 2 divisions:

• Pacific Division: Dallas Fuel, Los Angeles Gladiators, Los Angeles Valiant, San Francisco Shock, Seoul Dynasty, Shanghai Dragons
• Atlantic Division: Boston Uprising, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, London Spitfire, New York Excelsior, Philadelphia Fusion

Each team will play 40 games over the season. 20 of them in our own division, 20 across divisions. The winners of their divisions are automatically qualified for the postseason and receive a bye for the playoffs.

All matches of the first season are in the Blizzard Arena As soon as the teams have set up their own arenas in their home towns, the games will be played there

The postseason and playoffs

After the end of the 4th phase in June 2018, the 6 best teams will fight for the first Overwatch Championship and the Overwatch League Cup in the postseason.

2 of the 6 teams are the division winners, plus the 4 best teams in the league (regardless of the division).

The playoffs will then run from July 11th to July 22nd and the grand finale on 26. to 28.July. In the final, it's not just about the title and the trophy, but also about the prize money of 1 million US dollars.

A total of US $ 3.5 million will be up for grabs in the first season.

Blizzard also gives us a detailed overview:

Bonuses for title matches in a phase:

• First place: $ 100,000
• Second place: $ 25,000 
• Total: $ 500,000 over four phases

Regular Season Placement Bonuses:

• First place: $ 300,000
• Second place: $ 200,000
• Third and fourth place: $ 150,000
• Fifth and sixth place: $ 100,000
• Seventh and eighth place: $ 75,000
• Ninth and tenth places: $ 50,000
• Eleventh and twelfth places: $ 25,000
• Total: $ 1.3 million

Championship Playoff Placement Bonuses:

• World Champion: USD 1 million
• Second place: $ 400,000
• Third and fourth place: $ 100,000
• Fifth and sixth place: $ 50,000
• Total: $ 1.7 million

So it can really be worth it for the teams.