Earlier this month, the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) announced the nine teams that would be part of its new partner programme for the 2025 season.
These teams have been selected across three OWCS regions — Asia, North America and EMEA — and will provide additional commercial benefits to the organisations.
This article takes a look at each OWCS 2025 partner team and details their history within Overwatch esports.
EMEA
For 2025, OWCS has awarded three EMEA teams with partner status.
Marking its return to Overwatch esports is the Gen.G brand, this time representing a new region. Previously the organisation owned and operated Overwatch League franchise Seoul Dynasty, whilst also having an academy team under the Gen.G moniker until 2022.
As Seoul Dynasty, the franchise’s greatest achievement occurred at the Overwatch League 2020 Playoff Grand Finals, finishing second place in the event. Following the end of the Overwatch League in 2023, Gen.G and Seoul Dynasty haven’t competed in the Overwatch 2 scene.
Joining Gen.G is Twisted Minds, an organisation that has been active within the Overwatch esports scene since 2021. Alongside competing within the Saudi eLeague — a regional league that aims to develop Saudi Arabia’s esports scene — for the last few years, the organisation has gone on to qualify for OWCS’ first Major in 2024 as well as the OWCS World Finals.
For 2025, the organisation has revamped its roster, singing the likes of former Spacestation player Daniel ‘FunnyAstro’ Hathaway.
The final organisation that will represent EMEA as a partner team is Virtus.Pro. Entering the scene following the introduction of the OWCS in 2024, the Armenia-based organisation signed a roster ahead of the inaugural Esports World Cup. The team went on to secure a top-eight finish in the event, whilst also claiming back-to-back fourth places at OWCS 2024 Stage 3 and 4.
Similarly to Twisted Minds, Virtus.Pro has also shifted its roster around for the 2025 season, announcing three new signings including former ENCE player Ilari ‘Vestola’ Vestola.
North America
Only two teams have joined the OWCS 2025 partner programme from North America. However, the line-up includes a major name making its return to the scene.
After more than seven years away Team Liquid has joined the Overwatch 2 ecosystem. The organisation’s last competitive match occurred in Overwatch Contenders 2017 Season Zero: North America with a roster that included former London Spitfire and Philadelphia Fusion player Kim ‘Fury’ Jun-ho.
A few days after being announced as a partner team, Team Liquid revealed its Overwatch 2 roster which features former Toronto Defiant players Rupal ‘Rupal’ Zaman and Diego ‘Vega’ Moran.
Alongside Team Liquid will be Spacestation, which is making its debut in the North American scene after competing in EMEA last year. Whilst plying its trade in OWCS’ EMEA scene, the North American team placed third in the OWCS 2024 Major and secured top-eight finishes at the Esports World Cup and OWCS World Finals.
Following its move to North America, Spacestation revamped its roster for the 2025 season, with five new players including former Toronto Defiant and NRG Shock players, Kamden ‘Sugarfree’ Hijada and Kim ‘Kellan’ Min-Jae, respectively.
Asia
Asia has secured the most amount of partner teams for the 2025 OWCS season with four teams announced. Interestingly, all four of Asia’s partner programme representatives are competing in the Korean league. For context, OWCS Asia is split into Japan, Korea and the Pacific, with the top teams entering OWCS Asia.
Unspurisngly, OWCS 2024 World Champion Team Falcons has been announced as one of Asia’s four representatives. After joining the Overwatch scene in 2021, Team Falcons entered the OWCS following its formation last year and secured a top-two finish in the competition’s first Major.
Following its triumphs in 2024, it is also no surprise to see that the Saudi Arabian organisation has made no changes to its majority-Korean roster.
Also securing a partner team spot is OWCS 2024 world finalist Crazy Raccoon. The Japanese esports organisation entered Overwatch 2 following OWCS’ launch and has achieved several accolades already.
With its Korean roster, Crazy Raccoon won OWCS Asia Stage 1, the competition’s first Major and the Esports World Cup. Similarly to Team Falcons, the organisation has not announced any changes to its line–up for 2025.
Making its return to the Overwatch scene is South Korean esports powerhouse T1. Whilst the brand hasn’t officially been seen since Overwatch Contenders 2022, the team is part of a joint venture with one of Overwatch League’s previous franchise owners, Comcast Spectacor.
As Seoul Infernal (formerly Philadelphia Fusion), the franchise was a regular competitor in the Overwatch League until the competition’s cancellation.
OWCS’ final Asian representative is Japanese esports organisation ZETA Division. Operating with an unchanged squad from its 2024 season, ZETA’s Korean roster notably finished in the top four at the Esports World Cup.
Prior to its re-debut in 2024, ZETA Division previously competed in the Overwatch scene back in 2019.
What do OWCS partner teams gain?
As OWCS partner teams, the organisations are entitled to greater commercial opportunities throughout the year.
According to OWCS, this means that teams will receive a portion of the proceeds from crowdfunded in-game team packs. This includes branded in-game cosmetics. The exact percentage that teams will revive has not been disclosed.
Overwatch 2 is not the only esport to launch a partner programme that includes crowdfunding initiatives, with titles such as VALORANT and Rocket League using similar revenue methods for teams.