2023 Overwatch World Cup

2023 Overwatch World Cup
Tournament information
GameOverwatch 2
DateOctober 29 – November 4, 2023
AdministratorBlizzard Entertainment
Tournament
format(s)
Round-robin and Knockout
Venue(s)Anaheim Convention Center
Anaheim, California
Teams16
Final positions
Champions Saudi Arabia
1st runner-up China
2nd runner-up Finland
← 2019
2024 →

The 2023 Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) was the fifth edition of the Overwatch World Cup, an Overwatch esports tournament, organized by the game's developer Blizzard Entertainment. Over 40 teams from various countries and regions competed for one of the 16 spots in the 2023 OWWC. The group stage was a no audience LAN event and took place from October 29 to November 1. The knockout stage took place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, during BlizzCon from November 3 to 4, 2023. It was the first World Cup event since 2019 and the first of Overwatch 2.[1][2]

The finals took place on November 4 between Saudi Arabia and China. Saudi Arabia won the match by a score of 3–2 to claim their first World Cup title.[3]

Teams

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Committees and players

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Each country has a National Competition Committee, consisting of a general manager, head coach, and social lead, who are responsible for organizing tryouts for their country. Blizzard chose committees via an application process, which began in February 2023. Throughout three weekends in February, every committee hosted an open format tournament, called World Cup Trials. The winning team of each World Cup Trial won US$2,000 and earned an automatic invitation to their country's team tryouts in March 2023. Committees finalized a seven-person roster by April 2023.[4][5]

Qualification

[edit]
  Automatically qualified
  Qualified
  Did not qualify
  Did not participate

A total of 36 countries and regions were invited, based on Overwatch 2 player population data, to play in online qualifiers for the 2023 OWWC, with the teams evenly divided into six regions. An additional four teams also played in the online qualifiers via a "wild card challenge". Of the teams, a total of 15 advanced to the group stage of the OWWC. China received a direct invitation to the group stage due to "the current dynamics in China".[4][6]

Automatically qualified (1)
Americas (5)
Europe and Middle East (5)
Asia-Pacific (5)

Venue

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Anaheim, California, USA
Anaheim Convention Center Arena
Capacity: 7,500[7]

Online qualifiers

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Americas

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Group A
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  United States 5 5 0 1.000 10 1 +9 Advance to group stage
2  Canada 5 4 1 0.800 8 2 +6
3  Mexico 5 3 2 0.600 7 5 +2
4  Puerto Rico 5 2 3 0.400 5 6 −1
5  Costa Rica 5 1 4 0.200 2 8 −6
6  Guatemala 5 0 5 0.000 0 10 −10
Source: Overwatch World Cup
Group B
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  Colombia 5 5 0 1.000 10 1 +9 Advance to group stage
2  Brazil 5 4 1 0.800 8 2 +6
3  Chile 5 3 2 0.600 7 5 +2
4  Peru 5 2 3 0.400 4 7 −3
5  Argentina 5 1 4 0.200 4 8 −4
6  Ecuador 5 0 5 0.000 0 10 −10
Source: Overwatch World Cup

Europe and Middle East

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Group A
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  Great Britain 7 6 1 0.857 13 3 +10 Advance to group stage
2  Spain 7 5 2 0.714 11 7 +4
3  France 7 5 2 0.714 11 5 +6
4  Denmark 7 4 3 0.571 10 8 +2
5  Belgium 7 3 4 0.429 6 8 −2
6  Netherlands 7 3 4 0.429 8 8 0
7  Italy 7 2 5 0.286 5 11 −6
8  Portugal 7 0 7 0.000 0 14 −14
Source: Overwatch World Cup
Group B
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  Saudi Arabia 7 7 0 1.000 14 1 +13 Advance to group stage
2  Finland 7 6 1 0.857 13 2 +11
3  Norway 7 5 2 0.714 10 6 +4
4  Sweden 7 3 4 0.429 7 8 −1
5  Germany 7 3 4 0.429 6 7 −1
6  Turkey 7 2 5 0.286 6 11 −5
7  Poland 7 1 6 0.143 4 13 −9
8  Iceland 7 1 6 0.143 3 13 −10
Source: Overwatch World Cup

Asia-Pacific

[edit]
Group A
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  South Korea 5 5 0 1.000 10 0 +10 Advance to group stage
2  Japan 5 4 1 0.800 8 2 +6
3  Hong Kong 5 3 2 0.600 6 4 +2
4  Chinese Taipei 5 2 3 0.400 4 6 −2
5  Indonesia 5 1 4 0.200 2 8 −6
6  Philippines 5 0 5 0.000 0 10 −10
Source: Overwatch World Cup
Group B
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  Australia 5 5 0 1.000 10 1 +9 Advance to group stage
2  Thailand 5 4 1 0.800 9 3 +6
3  India 5 3 2 0.600 7 5 +2
4  New Zealand 5 2 3 0.400 4 6 −2
5  Malaysia 5 1 4 0.200 2 9 −7
6  Singapore 5 0 5 0.000 2 10 −8
Source: Overwatch World Cup

Group stage

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The group stage ran from October 29 to November 1, 2023, and was a LAN event in Southern California without an audience. A total of 16 teams, determined from the online qualifiers, were divided into groups, and each group competed in a round-robin tournament. Of the 16 teams, eight advanced to the knockouts.[8]

Group A
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  South Korea 3 3 0 1.000 6 1 +5 Advance to knockout stage
2  Finland 3 2 1 0.667 5 2 +3
3  Colombia 3 1 2 0.333 2 5 −3
4  Mexico 3 0 3 0.000 1 6 −5
Source: Overwatch World Cup
Group B
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  Great Britain 3 3 0 1.000 6 0 +6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Canada 3 2 1 0.667 4 2 +2
3  Australia 3 1 2 0.333 2 4 −2
4  Brazil 3 0 3 0.000 0 6 −6
Source: Overwatch World Cup
Group C
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  China 3 3 0 1.000 6 0 +6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Spain 3 2 1 0.667 4 2 +2
3  Thailand 3 1 2 0.333 2 4 −2
4  Hong Kong 3 0 3 0.000 0 6 −6
Source: Overwatch World Cup
Group D
Pos Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MD Qualification
1  Saudi Arabia 3 3 0 1.000 6 0 +6 Advance to knockout stage
2  United States 3 2 1 0.667 4 3 +1
3  Japan 3 1 2 0.333 2 4 −2
4  France 3 0 3 0.000 1 6 −5
Source: Overwatch World Cup

Knockout stage

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The knockout stage took place from November 3–4, 2023, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, during BlizzCon.[9] The top eight teams from the group stage competed in a single-elimination tournament.[8]

Bracket

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QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
November 3
A1 South Korea3
November 4
B2 Canada1
A1 South Korea2
November 3
C1 China3
C1 China3
November 4
D2 United States0
C1 China2
November 3
D1 Saudi Arabia3
B1 Great Britain0
November 4
A2 Finland3
A2 Finland2Third place
November 3
D1 Saudi Arabia3November 4
D1 Saudi Arabia3
A1 South Korea2
C2 Spain0
A2 Finland3

Prize pool

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The 2023 World Cup prize pool was generated through crowdfunding via the sales of in-game cosmetics within Overwatch 2. A total of 25% of the revenue generated from Overwatch World Cup cosmetics and bundled packages contributed to the overall prize pool of the Overwatch World Cup. There was no preset limit or cap on these contributions, so the prize pool could grow until the end of the crowdfunding initiative, which took place on the final day of the Overwatch World Cup Finals.[10] On the first day of BlizzCon, Blizzard announced that the prize pool had reached at least US$500,000.[11] A segment of the prize pool was allocated to the all competing teams in the tournament. The specific distribution percentages was determined based on each team's placement in the tournament. The top 16 teams that qualified for the LAN event were awarded 73% of the total prize pool, while the remaining 27% was equitably divided among the teams that participated in the Online Qualifiers and the Wild Card Challenge. The prize pool distribution is detailed below.[10]

Place Team Prize ($) Prize (%)
1  Saudi Arabia >$125,000 25%
2  China >$50,000 10%
3  Finland >$40,000 8%
4  South Korea >$30,000 6%
5–8  Canada >$15,000 3%
 Great Britain
 Spain
 United States
9–16  Australia >$7,500 1.5%
 Brazil
 Colombia
 France
 Hong Kong
 Japan
 Mexico
 Thailand
17–43 – >$5,000 1%

References

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  1. ^ Parrish, Ash (December 19, 2022). "The Overwatch League World Cup is back". The Verge. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  2. ^ Hakim, Luqman (December 19, 2022). "Overwatch World Cup Returns in 2023". IGN Southeast Asia. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  3. ^ Czar, Michael (November 5, 2023). "Sauda Arabia stuns China with remarkable Overwatch World Cup grand final reverse sweep". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Announcing the 36 Teams Competing in the 2023 Overwatch World Cup". Blizzard Entertainment. January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  5. ^ Martinello, Eva (February 17, 2023). "Overwatch World Cup 2023: Schedule, teams, and more". Dot Esports. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  6. ^ Lyons, Ben (January 25, 2023). "Here are the Overwatch World Cup's 36 teams". Gamereactor UK. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  7. ^ "Arena Capacities". anaheim.net. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Miceli, Max (February 15, 2023). "When is the 2023 Overwatch World Cup?". Dot Esports. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  9. ^ Welsh, Oli (June 29, 2023). "BlizzCon will be livestreamed for free this year — yes, all of it". Polygon. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Everything You Need to Know About the Overwatch World Cup Qualifiers". Blizzard Entertainment. June 15, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  11. ^ Czar, Michael (November 5, 2023). "2023 Overwatch World Cup: Standings, scores, streams, and more". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
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