Blizzard Entertainment has revealed key details surrounding the 2020 season of Overwatch League, confirming total prize pools for the playoffs, a new midseason tournament, and the All-Stars event.
Overwatch League will return on February 8 and will host 20 teams separated into two conferences, each with two divisions.
With Blizzard’s new focus on geolocation for Overwatch League teams in 2020, every team will now host at least two home weekend events throughout the 26-week regular season. Each team will play 28 games and will face their conference rivals twice throughout the regular season, with one match also to be played against each of the out-of-conference teams.
The leading team from each conference will instantly qualify as the top seeds for the 2020 postseason. These top-ranked teams will be joined by the next four teams across both conferences. A play-in tournament consisting of teams that finished 7th-12th in regular-season standings will decide the final two seeds in the postseason double-elimination bracket.
Each of the teams that qualify for the season playoffs will earn a significant payday, but none more so than the $1,500,000 prize for the winner of the season playoffs.
Overwatch League 2020 Season Playoffs Prize Pool
- First place—$1.5M
- Second place—$800K
- Third place—$500K
- Fourth place—$300K
- Fifth place—$200K
- Sixth place —$200K
- Seventh place—$100K
- Eighth place—$100K
Midseason activities will be revamped this season, allowing players and teams to boost their earnings by competing in a midseason tournament, as well as the usual All-Stars event.
The midseason activities will commence after week 12 of the regular season and the top team from each conference will qualify for a position in the midseason tournament. The four-team competition will be filled out with the next two best teams (by record) from either conference.
The midseason tournament provides greater incentive for teams to start the season well, considering the guaranteed prizes for all four participating teams.
The winning team of the All-Stars event will now also receive a major prize, helping to boost the stakes of the typically casual series.
Midseason Tournament Prize Pool
- First place—$500K
- Second place—$250K
- Third place—$150K
- Fourth place—$150K
All-Stars Prize Pool
- Total prize pool—$250K
