Blizzard Entertainment has announced the locations for its Overwatch Champions Series major LAN tournaments in 2026.
OWCS Champions Clash, Midseason Championship, and the World Finals will take place across Japan, Saudi Arabia, and China, respectively.
According to the announcement, the first LAN scheduled to take place in the 2026 season is Champions Clash. The event runs from May 22nd to 24th, and will take place in Tokyo, Japan. Furthermore, Blizzard Entertainment shared that tickets for the tournament will go live in March
Champions Clash pits the best teams from OWCS Stage 1 against one another for early glory and a guaranteed place in the Midseason Championship. As a result, the event serves as an early indicator of the state of Overwatch’s competitive scene.
The OWCS Midseason Championship will be one of many tournaments featured in this year’s Esports World Cup (EWC), an international event gathering the top global teams in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The tournament will run from July 29th to August 2nd, and gathers the top-performing squads from OWCS Stage 2. As of writing, ticket sales for the event are live and are priced from £123.92 (~$168).
The OWCS 2026 season concludes with the World Finals, the crowning event of the circuit. Blizzard Entertainment revealed that the tournament will be held from December 2nd to 6th, 2026, in China. The best teams from Stage 3 will compete in the final LAN event of the year, where the yearly Overwatch champion will be crowned.
Overwatch Esports in 2026
Various other Overwatch esports events will also take place this year, from collegiate events to the return of the Overwatch World Cup (OWC).
The latest addition to the OWCS circuit is the Pre-Season Bootcamp, inviting the 2026 partner teams to Seoul, South Korea. Teams will gain early access to upcoming content and competitive builds, and partake in daily scrims. The event concludes with a live Pre-Season tournament from February 12th to 15th at the WDG Studio in Hongdae.
Overwatch Collegiate esports is also underway for Spring 2026. Academic teams will compete across Open and Varsity divisions for a place in the LAN Season Finals taking place this April, featuring $100,000 (~£75,000) in Scholarship rewards.
OWC makes its long-anticipated return, with committee applications ending on February 6th. The circuit will run alongside the OWCS scene, beginning with Conference Cups from March, and concluding with the top eight countries competing in the Finals at BlizzCon in September 2026.
