Overwatch League teams to play less games as Season Two details are officially announced
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentThe format and schedule details for the Overwatch League have been officially announced.
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Information was previously leaked after the Chinese Overwatch League published details early, but a post on the English site now confirms some of the format changes and expands on certain aspects.
As previously seen, the post confirms that the second season of the Overwatch League will kick off on February 14, 2019. It remains to be seen whether pre-season show matches will take place beforehand, as occurred ahead of the first season.
One of the biggest changes being made to the format is that teams will only play 28 matches across the regular season, a significant reduction from the 40 that each team completed in Season One. This is one of several changes addressing the burn-out that many players struggled with over an incredibly intensive first season.
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Those 28 matches will still be played across four stages, each of which will last five weeks. Teams will play seven matches per stage, and each week they might have zero, one, or two matches. In addition, the time between stages will be extended, so players should get a proper break within the season.
Stage playoffs have also been adjusted. For Season Two, stage playoffs will take place at the end of Stages 1, 2, and 3, and will feature eight teams. The top team in each division will claim the top two seeds, and the playoff will be rounded out by the next six teams in the stage rankings.
With the league expanding, so too are the end-of-season playoffs. Eight teams will also compete there, of which the top six will be determined in the same manner as Season One – the top two teams from each division, followed by the next four teams in the overall rankings. The final two spots will be determined by a wildcard play-in tournament following Stage 4.
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The final announcement is that the All-Stars event, which this year took place at the end of Season One, will instead be moved to between Stage 2 and Stage 3 for Season Two. The gap between these two stages will also be longer to accommodate the event.
Exact details for the season, such as the precise schedule of matches, have yet to be announced. They are expected in the coming months, along with branding and roster announcements for the eight new teams joining the league for Season Two.
