Activision Blizzard and its Overwatch esports operator, ESL FACEIT Group announced that the first international Overwatch esports event – Overwatch Champions Clash, would take place at Hangzhou Esports Center from April 18-20. The event will feature eight esports teams qualified from Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) Stage 1, including North American teams NTMR and Spacestation Gaming; and EMEA teams Virtus.pro, AI Qadsiah, Saudi Team Falcons; South Korean Crazy Raccoon; and two Chinese Overwatch teams (to be announced). In addition, the event will be held in conjunction with Overwatch Chinese distributor NetEase ThunderFire Studio.
It should be noted that NetEase ThunderFire Studio is based in Hangzhou, and the Hangzhou Esports Center has held multiple esports competitions, such as Identity V League, Naraka Bladepoint Pro League (NBPL), and 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games esports events. The Hangzhou Esports Center has over 5,000 seats.
Meanwhile, a crowdfunding system will be applied in this event, with 25% of Blizzard’s net sales revenue from “The Ember Juno Bundle” skin contributing to the prize pool. It’s not clear if Activision Blizzard will set up a base prize pool for this event, as the details will be shared throughout the live event broadcast.
In 2024, the OWCS featured two international events – OWCS 2024 Major and OWCS 2024 World Finals, which featured $250,000 USD and $500,000 prize money, respectively. Both events were held at ESL FACEIT Group’s DreamHack Dallas and DreamHack Stockholm.
Looking through the general esports plan for Overwatch 2025, there will be two more international Overwatch events: the Midseason Championship at Saudi Arabia’s Esports World Cup and the Overwatch Champions World Finals.
On April 2, NetEase ThunderFire Studio announced that the tickets for Overwatch Champions Clash had sold out.