Overwatch League 2023 Competitive Season Details Revealed

Blizzard Entertainment has officially unveiled the details of the next Overwatch League 2023 competitive season. The series will return in March and offer more opportunities for teams scattered across East and West through a new structure that includes Spring and Summer Stages.

The season will be divided into spring and summer stages dedicated to two big LAN tournaments: Midseason Madness Global Tournament and Grand Finals. Teams will continue to be split into West and East regions, while the East will have a more open ecosystem that allows Contenders teams to qualify for the Overwatch League 2023.

Overwatch League competition returns on March 23rd with a three-week pro-am tournament in the West featuring teams from the Overwatch League and Contenders. The Overwatch League 2023 series is scheduled to start on April 27 in both regions.

In addition, the league standings will not be determined by points, but by the overall result in regional qualifying tournaments. The second half of the Overwatch League 2023 season will repeat the first half in terms of format. Details of the Grand Finals will come later.

Spring Stage format in Overwatch League 2023

In the West, teams will compete in Spring Qualifiers to determine the seeding for the Spring Playoffs and qualifying for Midseason Madness. In the East, teams from the Open Division and Contenders will host a series of competitions to determine who will compete against teams in the Overwatch League 2023.

Regional tournaments in South Korea, Asia-Pacific and Australia/New Zealand will feature 12 teams that will then compete in the Spring Stage Opens, concurrently with the Spring Stage Qualifiers at the Overwatch League 2023 level. Top teams from the Spring Stage Opens will join partners Overwatch League 2023 to participate in the Spring Stage Knockouts, where tickets to Midseason Madness will be raffled off.

Midseason Madness Format

Midseason Madness will feature six teams - four from the West, two from the East - in a double elimination bracket. The top two seeded teams from the Western Region's Spring Stage Qualifiers will qualify directly to Midseason Madness, while the other two teams will earn their place in the Spring Stage Playoffs. Two teams representing the East will qualify through the regional Spring Stage Knockouts.

Summer Stage format in Overwatch League 2023

The Summer Stage will mirror the format of the Spring Stage, with the western region moving straight to the ring format. In the East Region, the best finalists from the Contenders who participated in the Spring Stage automatically qualify for the Summer Stage Qualifiers.