Blizzard opens sign ups for amateur league, Overwatch Open Division

With Overwatch Contenders Season Zero well underway, Blizzard has finally unveiled their plans for the previously announced Overwatch Open Division. This will replace Season Zero’s open bracket qualifier which will be removed once Season One of Overwatch Contenders begins.

The Open Division, which will have separate branches in almost all major Western regions, will take players ranked Master and higher and allow them to form their own teams in order to compete against one another and show off their skills for potential sponsors or offers from teams.

The North American tournament will be conducted by ESL in partnership with Blizzard and will run for seven weeks with teams playing one day a week followed by a playoff between the top eight teams over two days. Meanwhile, the Western European regional tournament will be run by FaceIt and the Eastern European tournament will be handled by Starladder.

It is currently unclear if this league will have any entrants into Overwatch Contenders in the future, though it seems likely that some of the top performers and teams would be perfect candidates for that league.

The tournament will begin in 2018, though North American sign-ups close on June 21. All players who sign-up must be on a team, either that they signed up with or agreed to join, by June 30 and will receive $10.00 worth of Blizzard Balance with more potential prizes for teams that advance to the playoffs.