Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), is launching its new Overwatch Contenders league.
Overwatch Contenders is a minor league that will take place during the summer that will give amateur teams looking to go pro a place to show off their skills. The league will consist of two separate tournaments for two regions.
Overwatch players that want to take place in the Overwatch Contenders tournaments need to live in either North America or Europe. The tournaments will start with a Season Zero that will be online only. The winners of these tournaments will receive $50,000 and will be invited to be a part of Season One.
Overwatch Contenders Season One will still tournaments split between North America and Europe. However, the prize for the winners of these tournaments will be $100,000 per region. This also gives them a chance to show off their skills for teams looking to compete in the Overwatch League.
Overwatch Contenders Season Zero will start with Open Qualifiers on June 3 and June 4 in North American, and June 10 and June 11 in Europe. The top 16 teams will move on to enter the Group Stage segment, which will take place June 17 and June 24 in North America, and June 18 and June 25 in Europe.
The goal of the Group Stage event is to cut down the number of competing teams in the tournament to eight. The final eight teams will then compete against each other in the Playoffs. The Playoffs will take place on July 1 in North America and July 2 in Europe.
