📝 OWCS 2026 season format full details

The 2026 Overwatch Champions Series season is almost here.

As in years past, Blizzard is introducing adjustments to competitive play at the start of the season. While the new information may be tricky to navigate, we hope to provide all the information for both casual and hardcore fans to easily digest.

2026 Pre-Season Bootcamp

In 2026, the Pre-Season Bootcamp will debut as an exclusive in-person event in Seoul, South Korea, designed to introduce fans to the teams for the upcoming season.

This bootcamp event will run from February 8 through February 15, and will conclude with a tournament starting February 13. Fans will be able to attend this event and support their favorite and up-and-coming teams.

The teams attending this event are 11 of the 13 publicly announced OWCS Partner Teams, Team Liquid, Dallas Fuel, and Disguised from North America, Twisted Minds, Virtus.pro, and Team Peps from EMEA, T1, Team Falcons, and Crazy Raccoon from Asia, and two unannounced partner organizations from OWCS China.

Along with the previously mentioned Partner Teams, Japanese organization VARREL has also received an exclusive invitation to the event.

It is important to note that neither Spacestation Gaming nor ZETA DIVISION will be present at the Pre-Season Bootcamp. At the time of writing, neither team has publicly confirmed their reason for absence.

The concluding tournament will feature a 12-team single-elimination bracket, broadcast live on the official OWCS channels.

OWTV will also be providing exclusive in-person and online interviews with players and staff of the various organizations. Stay tuned to the OWTV social media channels and website for future uploads.

2026 Stage 1 Open Qualifiers: North America and EMEA

Much like the start of last year’s season, 2026 will officially begin with an Open Qualifier after the conclusion of the Pre-Season Bootcamp event on February 21.

The tournament will proceed in two phases: first, a six-round open Swiss-style system, and second, a 16-team double-elimination bracket. All matches will be played on the ongoing Live Patch.

The Swiss stage began registration on January 16 and will close on February 21. After all six rounds have been completed, the top 4-6 placing teams will advance to the second phase of qualifiers in the double-elimination bracket. The Swiss phase will begin on Saturday, February 21 and conclude on Sunday, February 22.

Phase 2 will begin on Saturday, February 28 and conclude on Sunday, March 1. Qualification for Phase 2 will work differently compared to the 2025 season. Joining the 4-6 qualified teams from Phase 1 will be the top four placing teams from the FACEIT League - Masters Season 7: Playoffs, as well as the remaining non-partner teams from OWCS Stage 3 2025.

It is important to note that, to qualify for an immediate bye to Phase 2, FACEIT teams and Stage 3 OWCS teams must retain at least three players from their original rosters. If not enough teams are available to fill the full 16-team double-elimination bracket for Phase 2, more teams will be brought up from the Swiss stage in Phase 1.

Once all teams have been decided and the tournament concludes, the top two placing teams in the North American bracket will qualify for OWCS Stage 1 2026, whereas the top 3 placing teams in the EMEA region will qualify.

All partnered teams will automatically qualify for OWCS 2026 Stage 1.

FACEIT League Season 8: Last Chance Qualifier

For the teams that do not qualify for OWCS 2026 Stage 1, an opportunity to try and qualify for future OWCS stages will become available. However, you will first need to go through the FACEIT League.

Unique to FACEIT League Masters - Season 8, a Last Chance Qualifier tournament will take place after the Stage 1 Qualifiers. This system is designed for the remaining OWCS teams from Stage 3 2025 who were unable to qualify for the 2026 season, as well as providing an extra opportunity for teams from FACEIT League Expert - Season 7 to try to make it to Masters.

Depending on remaining rosters, 14-22 teams will play in an exclusive invite-only double-elimination tournament. This will consist of up to eight teams from OWCS 2025 Stage 3, the 7th-14th placed teams from FACEIT League Masters - Season 7, and the 3rd-8th placed teams from FACEIT League Expert - Season 7.

It is important to note that any team that qualifies for OWCS 2026 Stage 1 will not be eligible to participate in the LCQ.

The top eight placing teams in the LCQ will then advance to FACEIT Masters S8, whereas the remaining teams will be relegated to FACEIT Expert S8. A top finish in this tournament is crucial for teams looking to return to OWCS competition, as FACEIT Masters will directly feed into the Promotion/Relegation for Stages 2 and 3.

OWCS 2026 Stage 1 Breakdown: NA and EMEA

Once all the teams have been finalized for both the North American and EMEA regions, six teams will play in a Regular Season Round Robin. This is a departure from the eight teams that qualified per stage in the 2025 season. At the time of writing, OWCS administration has not publicly explained the reason for fewer teams being present in the Regular Season.

The six spots will be determined by the number of Partner Teams and the number of qualified teams from the Stage 1 Open Qualifiers.

This means that the following teams will play in the Stage 1 Regular Season in North America: Disguised (DSG), Spacestation Gaming (SSG), Team Liquid, Dallas Fuel, and two qualified teams from the Open Qualifiers.

In the EMEA Region, the following teams will play in Stage 1: Twisted Minds, Virtus.pro, Team Peps, and three qualified teams from the Open Qualifiers.

The Stage 1 Regular Season begins on March 21 and will feature three weeks of Round Robin play, followed by one week of Playoffs beginning on April 10 and concluding on April 12.

The top four teams from each region will advance to the Stage 1 playoffs, and the bottom two teams will participate in the Promotion/Relegation system, similar to the 2025 season. The top four will auto-qualify for each subsequent Stage.

Each stage will also feature a $75,000 USD prize pool (for a combined $150,000 USD across NA and EMEA) split among six teams. The split will proceed as follows (all prizes in USD):

• 1st Place - 40.00% ($30,000)
• 2nd Place - 20.00% ($15,000)
• 3rd Place - 16.00% ($12,000)
• 4th Place - 10.67% ($8,000)
• 5th/6th Place - 6.67% ($5,000)

Notably, these stage prize pools will be $25,000 lighter than the 2025 season. As for why this change was made, no official OWCS sources have confirmed the reason.

OWCS Promotion/Relegation: NA and EMEA

As previously mentioned, the bottom two teams from OWCS Stage 1 will go through the Promotion/Relegation system. There, they will face the top two teams from the previous FACEIT Masters season in a double-elimination bracket.

The top two teams in the Promotion/Relegation will advance to the next OWCS Stage, whereas the 3rd and 4th-place teams will drop to the FACEIT League Masters, where they will need to requalify to return to Tier 1 competition.

It is important to note that Partner Teams are also eligible for relegation; if they fail to secure a top-four finish in OWCS, they must requalify through the Tier 2 system.

The Promotion/Relegation system will be in place only for Stages 2 and 3 in North America and EMEA. The first tournament to decide the final teams for Stage 2 will take place on May 30, and the Stage 3 tournament will take place on August 15. Please stay tuned to official channels and OWTV for information on these tournaments.

OWCS 2026 Stage 2 and 3: NA and EMEA

Looking further ahead at the 2026 season, the start and end dates for the North American and EMEA regions have been confirmed.

The Stage 2 Regular Season begins on June 13 and concludes with the Stage 2 Regional Playoffs on July 5.

The Stage 3 Regular Season begins on October 11 and concludes with the Stage 3 Regional Playoffs on November 1.

OWCS 2026 Asia: Korea, Japan, and the Pacific

Competition will proceed slightly differently across the Asia-Pacific region for OWCS 2026.

Much like in NA and EMEA, Asia will also begin with Open Qualifiers from February 20 to February 22. Partner teams in these regions will also automatically qualify for Stage 1, but, as with their counterparts in the West, they will need to retain their spots or risk relegation.

In Japan, eight teams will compete in a Round Robin tournament, with the top four advancing directly to the single-elimination Regional Playoffs. The Top 3 teams in this playoffs will then qualify for the online OWCS Asia Stage 1 Championship.

In the Pacific region, six teams will compete in a Round Robin tournament, with the top 4 teams advancing to their single-elimination Regional Playoffs. However, only the winner of the Pacific Regional Playoffs will advance to the OWCS Asia Stage 1 Championship.

The Korean region will compete in a different format than Japan and the Pacific. Nine teams will duke it out in a Regular Season Round Robin, with the top four teams advancing to a Seeding Decider bracket to determine playoff positions. The remaining 5th-8th teams will then compete in a Last Chance Qualifier for the remaining 2 spots in the Korea Regional Playoffs. The 9th-seeded team will be automatically eliminated and face relegation.

The remaining six teams will compete in a single-elimination Regional Playoffs, and the top four teams will then advance to the OWCS Asia Stage 1 Championship.

The Stage 1 Regular Season will begin on March 16 and conclude on April 19 for all three Asian regions. LCQ and Seeding matches for OWCS Korea will take place on April 24 and conclude on April 26.

The Pacific Regional Playoffs will take place on April 23, the Japanese on April 27, and the Korean Regional Playoffs on May 1 through May 3.

This means the final Stage 1 Asia Championship will feature four teams from OWCS Korea, three from OWCS Japan, and a single team from OWCS Pacific. The Asia Championship date has yet to be announced, so please stay tuned to official channels for updates.

Only the Stage 1 schedule has been made publicly available at this time; however, it is expected that future stages will follow a similar format.

OWCS 2026: China’s Regular Season and Partner Teams

The Chinese region will debut with a new system for the 2026 Season.

Unlike the other main regions, each Regular Season Stage for OWCS China will begin with a Swiss Stage Open Qualifier. Eight teams will compete in the Swiss Stage, and only the top six will advance to the Round Robin, while the 7th and 8th-placing teams will be eliminated.

After the conclusion of the Round Robin, the top four seeded teams will then advance to the OWCS China Regional Playoffs and compete in a double-elimination bracket.

Stage 1 will begin with Open Qualifiers on February 27 and will conclude on March 8, with the Regular Season beginning on March 21 and concluding with the Regional Playoffs on April 26.

Stage 2 will begin with Open Qualifiers on May 8 and will conclude on May 17, with the Regular Season beginning on June 6 and concluding with the Regional Playoffs on July 5.

Stage 3 will begin with Open Qualifiers on August 28 and will conclude on September 6, with the Regular Season beginning on October 3 and concluding with the Regional Playoffs on November 8.

The OWCS Partner Team Program has also been extended to China for 2026. However, the partner teams have not been made public as of yet.

OWCS International Majors: Tournament Dates

• The 2026 Champions Clash will take place from May 22 to May 24.
• The 2026 Midseason Championship will take place from July 29 to August 2.
• The 2026 World Finals will take place from December 2 to December 6.

Only the top 2 teams from each of the main regions will qualify for the 2026 Champions Clash. This means that North America, EMEA, Asia (Korea, Japan, and the Pacific), and China will each send two representatives who have qualified through their respective Regional Playoffs. Please note that qualification for the Asia Region will take place through the OWCS Stage 1 Asia Championship.

The number of teams qualifying for the 2026 Midseason Championship and the 2026 World Finals is currently unknown.

Roster construction and Roster Lock information

Roster construction will remain the same as in the 2025 season, with a minimum of six and a maximum of seven players per team. Teams will still be allowed to make emergency substitutions whenever necessary; however, if a team possess five eligible players for competition, they must receive administrative approval before making an emergency acquisition.

Teams will also be allowed to import players from other participating OWCS regions, but may not field more than two players from outside their home region.

The Roster Lock periods for North America and EMEA will be as follows:

• Stage 1 and Stage 1 Open Qualifier
  • Begins: January 16th
  • Ends: February 21st - 00:00 PT
• Stage 2
  • Begins: May 31st
  • Ends: June 8th
• Stage 3
  • Begins: August 16th
  • Ends: September 28th

Much like in the 2025 Season, teams will only be allowed to add three new players to their Roster, and must remain in compliance with the league minimum of six active players, but no more than seven.

The current Roster Lock dates for OWCS Asia and China are not publicly available at this time.

OWTV in the 2026 Season

We will continue to provide weekly news coverage, player and staff interviews, and coverage of the Pre-Season Bootcamp and the three International Majors.

Please make sure to stay tuned to the OWTV Website for official news coverage, exclusive player interviews, and further behind-the-scenes coverage of the Overwatch esports scene. And make sure to follow us on X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to stay up to date on all future articles and exclusive interviews.