Overwatch 2 confirmed for Esports World Cup
The Esports World Cup Foundation has announced Overwatch 2 as one of its titles for the event, set to take place this summer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to a press release, the Overwatch Championship Series will "serve as an opportunity for EWC qualification."
Overwatch 2 announced at EWC
For months, the Overwatch 2 community had been speculating on the game's involvement in the Esports World Cup. With the announcement of the Overwatch Championship Series in January, the schedule with a glaring hole in Summer during the allotted month for the EWC suggested participation in the event.
The announcement also shared at least one of how teams will be able to participate in the World Cup, outlining the OWCS as a qualifier for the event, though no specifics have been shared on the selection of the teams. Few other details have been shared with event dates, format, or prize pool currently unknown.
What’s the Esports World Cup?
The Esports World Cup is a multi-week event hosting a large number of different esports in Saudi Arabia's Capital, Riyadh. Despite its name, the event will not pit national teams against each other but will host esports organisations from around the globe to accrue points across various titles to be added to their overall score.
So far, ten other esports titles including Rainbow Six Siege, PUBG, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Starcraft II have been announced, with other titles potentially following. Riot Games and its esports titles have also been tabbed for availability though a participation of either VALORANT or League of Legends has not been confirmed for 2024.
The Esports World Cup Foundation and its event, the EWC, had been formed as part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, seeing the Public Investment Fund increasingly invest and purchase companies in the esports industry. Savvy Gaming Group acquired the event organisers Electronic Sports League and FACEIT in 2022, merging them into the ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), also incorporating Vindex in 2023.
For Overwatch esports, Vindex with their company Esports Engine, had previously acted as a production partner for the Overwatch League in the Western region. For OWCS, EFG has taken over the production and event organising duties in EMEA and North America. Dreamhack, another EFG product, will serve as the host of both OWCS international events for the 2024 season.
