Overwatch League opens up East division

Major format changes have been announced for the 2023 Overwatch League season, which begins on March 23.

There will be opportunities for non-franchised teams to compete alongside Overwatch League teams in the new season, which is divided into stages for the Spring and Summer seasons.

The Midseason Madness and Grand Finals, two global LAN competitions, will serve as the focal points of the Spring and Summer stages, respectively. On April 27th, Overwatch League circuit play in both the East and West regions is scheduled to begin.

This season, for the first time, the Overwatch League will include non-franchised teams from the second tier of professional Overwatch called contenders. This takes the form of a pro-am tournament in the West region, where teams from the Contenders will compete against teams from the West Overwatch League in a $100,000 (£82,000) tournament.

However, the East region will transition to an open, semi-franchised ecosystem in which Competitors teams can qualify for and play alongside franchise teams in official Overwatch League league play.