The OWL has announced the playoffs format for the 2020 season and the grand finals. Matches will be played online with 13 teams playing in NA and seven in Asia.
Granted, it doesn't really come as a surprise. The coronavirus has the esports industry - and the whole world - firmly in its grip. Major LAN events have been either canceled or delayed for months. What a year: No E3, no Gamescom, no The International. At least most of the esports scene was able to adapt to the situation with many events switching to an online format. Today Overwatch League made an official announcement about the 2020 postseason and the grand finals.
The format
20 teams will have the opportunity to qualify for the post-season competition. All matches will be played online and again split into two divisions. We've seen this kind of handling before in other games like League of Legends, etc.The start date for the Overwatch League Offseason is set for September 3. The champions of the winner and loser brackets of each region will then form the four teams that will participate in the grand final tournament. To avoid potential problems with online latency and technical challenges, the teams from NA will compete in a previously unknown location in Asia. The matches will still be played online and everyone involved in the production and casting will be working remotely (who knows though maybe the situation will get better until then). This makes for fewer mass events but gives the teams the opportunity to play fair - without someone having to use a worse server or suffer other technical issues which may arise.
Mark your calendars because we are back This week's #OWLMatches start on Friday! Start your weekend early with us, only on https://t.co/tbTGBrUfiE pic.twitter.com/gXQoMzQ9BC
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) July 13, 2020
A video released with the announcement also shows that there will be a several week break between the playoffs and the grand final. This will be necessary for health and safety needs as well as travel logistics. This only makes sense as the teams will have to be accommodated to the secret location in Asia where the big finale will take place.
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