Blizzard Announces 2018 Overwatch World Cup
By Nicholas Barth ·
Taking place since 2016, the Overwatch World Cup is one of the biggest events for the first person shooter title, and it will be making its return in 2018.
Blizzard introduced the Overwatch World Cup to the world in 2016, and it has grown into being one of the most highly aniticpated and enjoyed events in the esports world. Showing their extreme talent in Blizzard's first person shooter, South Korea won both the 2016 and 2017 World Cups. Now players from the around the world will have another chance to represent their countries and fight to take home the coveted championship, as Blizzard has announced the return of the Overwatch World Cup for 2018.
Qualification for the event begins today, as Blizzard will be tracking the average skill rating (SR) of each country's top 150 players. The top 20 countries with the highest SR will be invited to compete at this year's World Cup. France, South Korea, Thailand and the United States will be the four countries hosting the Group Stages of the event. With the these four countries automatically qualifying for the tournament, there will be a total of 24 teams competing for the championship. However, if one of these four are in the top 20 SR for countries as well, the 21st ranked country will be invited and so on from there.
Each qualified country will form a National Competition Committee that will consist of a General Manager, Coach and a Community Lead. Blizzard will reveal all of the National Competition Committees on May 31st.
Player tryouts will be held from June 1st to June 5th. Overwatch League players will also be eligible to compete for a spot on their country's roster. Each country will have the option to field a roster of 12 players.
With the success of last year's World Cup and the current season of the Overwatch League, the 2018 Overwatch World Cup will be one of the most aniticpated esports events this year, as the passion for competitive Overwatch is at an all time high.
More information on this year's World Cup can be found here. Interested in more Overwatch news? Check out which two Overwatch League teams could possibly in trade talks heading into Stage 3.
(cover photo courtesy of Blizzard)