Blizzard reveals a semi-pro league ahead of ‘Overwatch’ League

Overwatch League is getting its own developmental league for teams and players who are almost-but-not-quite ready to make it to the big leagues: Overwatch Contenders.

Blizzard announced the Overwatch Contenders developmental league today, offering aspiring Overwatch pros a chance to hone their skills and show off their talents to Overwatch League teams in a structured competitive league. The Contenders league kicks off this summer with Season 0 -- open to anyone in North America and Europe -- to determine which teams will be competing in Contenders Season 1.

Overwatch Contenders is kind of like a cross between League of Legends' Challenger Series developmental league and Minor League Baseball. Teams in Contenders won't have a chance to steal an Overwatch League team's spot like League's Challenger Series teams do. Instead, individuals (or potentially entire rosters of Contenders teams) would get signed by an Overwatch League team.

As for getting into Overwatch Contenders down the line, there will be yet another Blizzard-run Overwatch competitive series called Overwatch Open Division. Open Division will consist of tournaments in select regions and will be open to any teams and players with online competitive ranks at Masters or higher.

The information about the path between Overwatch Open Division and Contenders is still fuzzy, but based on the structure of Blizzard's competitive Overwatch scene it's possible that successful Open Division teams will have a chance to bump out Contenders teams that aren't performing well.

The idea is to create a constant flow of talent in Blizzard's competitive Overwatch scene. Newer teams can start on their path to glory by winning an Open Division tournament and making it into Contenders. Contenders players then prove themselves in regular seasons (with $100,000 prize pools) with the hopes of getting noticed and signed by an Overwatch League team. Overwatch League players then have to keep up their level of play or else they may get dropped from their roster, opening up a spot for a Contenders player.

Overwatch Contenders structure

After Overwatch Contenders Season 0 concludes in North America and Europe, the top six NA teams will join Team EnVyUs and Rogue for their first real season while the top eight EU teams will move into their own Season 1.

As for who is in charge of Overwatch Contenders team spots, teams will have a designated leader who will manage the team’s roster, handle match disputes, and more. The leader could be the team's owner if it's an established esports team organization like Team EnVyUs. Or, it could be one of the players if the squad isn't tied to an official organization.

Overwatch Contenders Season 1 will consist of six weeks of online round-robin play, after which the top four teams will move on to the offline playoffs. Both European and North American Contenders seasons have a prize pool of $100,000.

If you're interested in signing up for or following along with the truncated Overwatch Contenders Season 0, here's the schedule:

• May 22: NA & EU team registration opens

• June 2: NA team registration closes

• June 3-4: NA Open Qualifier

• June 9: EU team registration closes

• June 10-11: EU Open Qualifier

• June 17: EU Group Stage

• June 18: NA Group Stage

• June 24: EU Group Stage

• June 25: NA Group Stage

• July 1: EU Playoffs

• July 2: NA Playoffs

More information about the schedule for Overwatch Contenders Season 1 and the exact structure of the Open Division will be coming at a later date.