The world could always use more heroes, and what better way to do that than by building the next generation of Overwatch 2 esports stars through OWCS 2026 and the lead-up to Overwatch World Cup 2026?
Blizzard Entertainment celebrated Overwatch 2 esports during the 2025 Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) World Finals at DreamHack Stockholm. There, fans cheered on their favorite teams as the competition reached its conclusion. Esports.gg caught up with Fernando Escamilla Valdez, the Overwatch World Cup product lead plus the product operations lead of Overwatch 2 esports, to talk about the evolution of the OWCS and what fans can expect in 2026!
Talking OWCS 2025 and OWCS 2026 with Fernando Escamilla Valdez
In his interview with esports.gg, Valdez said the OWCS World Finals 2025 at DreamHack Stockholm was very exciting. The months of preparation for performances, cosplay, and music videos all came together, making the event worth it. In the end, Twisted Minds from the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region took home the gold, which was surprising due to the teams from OWCS Asia being the favorites. Valdez noted that the open qualifier system played a part in this. It not only helped develop talent in different regions, but it also gave more teams the chance to compete in Overwatch 2 esports.
"An open ecosystem has led to this development of talent and progression of the regions that we haven't seen in the past," Valdez explained. "Next year, I feel like we're going to be expanding on that, and that's something that I'm very excited for. With the bootcamp, we'll see, hopefully, even more progression and leveling up of teams and ideally, more leveling up of regions. Hopefully, North America can catch up to what EMEA has done [and] have a level playing field there. We have the teams in China as well that hopefully will also level up and improve from all this. It's a very exciting period for Overwatch because you're seeing a lot of progress in esports."
Overwatch 2 esports teams get Pre-Season Bootcamp
The bootcamp he referred to is the Pre-Season Bootcamp in Seoul, Korea, which will be an invite-only program for the OWCS 2026 circuit. It will give Partner Teams a week of intensive training and the chance to experience Korean culture.
"That's actually one of the things that we're most excited about next year," Valdez said. "It's the way that we're launching 2026 and it's going to be a big initiative for us. So all the teams are going to come together in Seoul, Korea. And they're going to have the opportunity to participate in these scheduled scrims and events to level up together. They'll also have the opportunity to preview a lot of upcoming content. So that's really exciting for us. And more than anything, it's the idea of leveling them up and like bringing them all together and seeing what comes out of that."
Valdez then shared that his team will apply lessons from the OWCS World Finals 2025 event to improve the OWCS 2026 circuit. Since the biggest challenge pertained to managing time while balancing ambitious goals with what could realistically be executed, he'll aim to streamline operations and use his team's years of experience to improve efficiency.
Overwatch World Cup 2026 heads to BlizzCon
Speaking of Overwatch 2 esports in 2026, the new year will also see the return of the Overwatch World Cup at BlizzCon. According to Valdez, the Overwatch World Cup will represent the largest footprint at BlizzCon. It has also long served as a key pathway for developing the next generation of competitors.
"That, to us, is our biggest footprint at BlizzCon," Valdez said. "And that's where the Overwatch esports team is really going to be engaging. We're really excited about the program. And it's not just BlizzCon. We are getting started right now, and it's continuing throughout all of 2026 with the cumulation at BlizzCon. It's going to be a really exciting part of that larger event."
He continued, "And the most exciting thing for us is that the World Cup is back in the arena. The ACC at the Anaheim Convention Center arena is one of the most iconic Overwatch esports venues. It may not be the biggest, the fanciest, or anything like that, but when it comes to nostalgia levels, it's peak, right? I can envision the screams and like the fans shouting every time that I enter that place. It gives me chills whenever I think about it. For a lot of like longtime fans, seeing that event come to fruition next year is going to be really nice. I think we're going to get a lot of new fans entering Overwatch esports when they see that."
That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news, interviews, and updates.
