Fans of the Overwatch League have been anxiously awaiting to hear more information regarding Season 2 of the professional esports league for Overwatch, especially with the reveal that eight new teams would be joining for Season 2. Fortunately for curious fans, it looks as though the community has finally gotten its first look at how the schedule and format will operate for Season 2 of the Overwatch League.
The new schedule and format details were posted onto the league's Chinese website, but have not yet been posted on the league's English website. The details and their translations were posted to the competitive subreddit for the first person shooter title and look to so far have been well received by the community.
According to the information that was published on the Chinese website for the Overwatch League, Season 2 will begin on Thursday, February 14th EST (Friday 15 February 2019 Beijing Time). It will still consist of 4 stages that will each last for five weeks. Each of the 20 teams will play 28 matches instead of the 40 that the 12 teams who competed this past year played.
The new Paris, Toronto, Washington DC and Atlanta franchises will join the Atlantic Division, while the Vancouver, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou franchises will become members of the Pacific Division for Season 2 of the Overwatch League.
Teams will play anywhere from zero to two matches a week, and the mid season breaks will be of a longer variety in Season 2. This change is likely due to the major burnout and fatigue that was felt by many players in the Overwatch League during Season 1. All-Star Weekend will be held between Stage 2 and 3 during Season 2 of the Overwatch League.
Playoffs will see the first place team in each division qualify followed by the next four top ranked teams regardless of division. Blizzard will also be having two more teams qualify for the playoffs in a wild card round.
We can’t wait for the #OWL2019 season!
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) September 7, 2018
Here are the 8 new teams joining the league! pic.twitter.com/zhkrNYDlko
With a full season under its belt, it looks as though Blizzard and the Overwatch League identified areas where the structure of the league could be change to better suit players and competition with the addition of eight news teams. Now, fans will have to wait until the beginning of February to see if these new schedule and format changes will improve upon what was already a very successful debut of the Overwatch League in the world of esports.
(cover photo courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment)
