From DreamHack Stockholm to Seoul: Talking OWCS Asia’s esports future with Craig Cheon

Blizzard Entertainment celebrated Overwatch 2 esports during the 2025 Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) World Finals at DreamHack Stockholm 2025. There, fans of OWCS Asia cheered loudly for T1, Crazy Raccoon, and Team Falcons as they duked it out live on stage. In between the matches, esports.gg interviewed Craig Cheon, Overwatch 2 esports's product lead for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, about the evolution of OWCS in Asia, the impact of its communities, and the future of Overwatch 2 esports.

In his interview with Esports.gg, Craig Cheon described the 2025 OWCS World Finals at DreamHack Stockholm as an exciting tournament. A team like VARREL raised eyebrows with its performance on the live stage. Meanwhile, a tank player like Inoue "KSG" Tomoharu of the same esports organization improved a lot over the course of 2025. Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) teams, such as Twisted Minds, are more competitive than ever, too.

"The community in Asia and Japan and Korea definitely really appreciate the opportunity of the international stage," Cheon added. "We have our regular season in Korea and Japan. The partnership with WDG provides constant match days and broadcasting days in the region, but the international stage that was organized by EFG and other partners actually [gave] the OWCS Asia community more competitive opportunities. The European teams [have] their own skill sets, which actually [provides] a great opportunity for the Asian community to enjoy more high-level competition."

Cheon then explained that different regions require different operational approaches due to varying team structures and skill levels.

"For Japan, we have a different format than Korea," he said. "In Japan, the system has 12 teams participating because we want to give more teams the opportunity to get into the OWCS circuit. It's like the two-group round robin and playoff system. It's very straightforward for all the fans in Japan. However, in Korea, we only have like nine teams in our circuit. High school teams have more opportunities to compete against each other and develop their skill set. It's a very different kind of approach, but it resonates to each region very well."

In addition to how WDG plays a key role in building the OWCS ecosystem in Asia through both resources and community support, Cheon noted that the in-game team bundles are another vital part of the Overwatch 2 community. By purchasing team skins, fans can directly support their favorite organizations while giving players added motivation to represent their brands with pride. This dynamic strengthens the bond between teams and their fans. It also reinforces long-term engagement across the competitive scene.

"It's a really great way to support your region and your team," he said. "It's a really, really great contribution to our ecosystem. And also teams' motivation actually comes not only from the match itself, but once my team's brand is in any game, the team itself will have more responsibility to present as a player of Overwatch. So I think it's a really, really great system to support our players and also support our community."

During DreamHack Stockholm 2025, Blizzard Entertainment revealed the new OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp initiative. This will be an invite-only program happening in Seoul, Korea, and the OWCS Partner Teams will get an intensive week of training and preparation. The teams will gain early access to the competitive build, participate in scrims, and collaborate with other teams from the broader Overwatch 2 esports community. According to Cheon, the choice of this location will help foster higher-level competition.

"Korea is the home of esports," he said, adding that there will be professional setups for all of the participating teams. "So they will have the opportunity to practice and have scrimmages in Korea with very minimum latency -- because Korea has a really good internet system. They will have a really good opportunity to practice with each other. Outside of that, Korea's culture will be really interesting for them."

Cheon then added how OWCS 2026 will also offer a great opportunity for the Korean teams to prove themselves and reclaim their status as World Champions.

As for parting words, Cheon said he wants the Overwatch 2 community to remain a central focus in 2026, with WDG studio events continuing to engage fans at a grassroots level and Blizzard Entertainment partnerships expanding live events across Asia. These efforts will create more opportunities for fans to connect with players and the esports scene.

"Moving forward, we're trying to have bigger live events in Korea, in Japan," he said. "Things are not confirmed yet, but I just want to create more opportunities for our fans to get together and engage with the players."

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news, interviews, and updates.