Blizzard announces plans for bigger and better Overwatch World Cup in 2017

Don’t you worry. The Overwatch World Cup is happening again in 2017.

Blizzard put its newest smash-hit game, Overwatch, on display at BlizzCon in 2016 by hosting the Overwatch World Cup, a competition which brought together the best Overwatch players from every country/region and pitted them against each other in a competition for national gaming glory.

The tournament garnered considerable traction due to its uniqueness. Fans voted on the skilled players they wanted to represent their country. Teams were put together based on country, not by contract. And the finals were staged live during BlizzCon. All of this, combined with some incredible action, made the event exciting and successful.

Now Blizzard has official confirmed that Overwatch World Cup will be happening again. According to the announcement, Blizzard is hoping to “incorporate more countries, more games, and more live events,” and they’ve listed out the four phases that will occur in order for this to happen.

The first order of business is figuring out which countries will qualify for a chance to play in the tournament. Blizzard will be determining this by a collective skill rating:

"Starting today, we will begin tracking the skill ratings of the top 100 players from every country to determine each country’s average rating. Then, in April, we’ll use those average ratings to identify which 32 countries from around the world have the most skilled players."

Already they have a website where fans can track where their country currently ranks.

Phase two occurs once the top 32 countries have been determined. It involves each country putting together their Overwatch World Cup National Committee through a combined process of player voting and Blizzard nominations.

Phase three begins the actual gameplay, and unlike last year, the live qualifiers will be played live at four group stage events during the summer. Blizzard lists Europe, North America and Asia as the places where eight teams will go head-to-head in group play.

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This brings us to the last phase most of us are familiar with: the live finals at BlizzCon 2017.

We’re glad to see that Blizzard is planning on continuing to give the people what they want, which is Overwatch everything all the time. You truly understand us, Blizzard.