The first Overwatch Championship Series World Finals is heading overseas to Europe to take place at DreamHack Stockholm later this year, Blizzard announced today.
The OWCS at DreamHack marks the hero shooter sequel’s first major in-person tournament in Europe since 2018. At the time, Paris hosted the Overwatch World Cup qualifiers, so a return to the continent is long overdue.
This will be the OWCS’ second LAN of the competitive season, with the first taking place at DreamHack Dallas earlier this year in front of 55,000 fans in attendance. Nearly 130,000 more viewers tuned in at the peak of the livestream.
“The Overwatch Champions Series has already exceeded our expectations, and we’re excited to cap off the year with our first-ever championship in Europe,” said Sean Miller, director and head of Overwatch esports at Blizzard. “Our first OWCS LAN showcased the continued appetite Overwatch 2 fans have for international competition, and we expect that passion and excitement to reach new heights in Stockholm.”
Only eight slots will be decided for the OW2 tournament between now and DreamHack. Open qualifiers on FACEIT begin for EMEA and North America on Sept. 20, and the winner of the tournament automatically qualifies for the World Finals.
Fans in attendance “will get to take part in multiple activations and celebrate throughout the three-day gaming lifestyle festival, with premium access to the OWCS World Finals also available through add-on ticket packages,” Blizzard said.
Crazy Raccoon won DreamHack Dallas earlier this year, featuring a roster of budding stars CH0R0NG, HeeSang, Junbin, LIP, MAX, and Shu. The global competition will surely be fierce with teams looking to become the first OWCS world champion.
Although prize pool information was not readily available, the pool at DreamHack Dallas awarded the winners $100,000, so Stockholm’s should be similar, if not larger.
