After a year of online-only play, Blizzard has confirmed the Overwatch League will return to a live setting this year.
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Blizzard Confirm Return Of Live Overwatch Events
Due to the pandemic, there haven't been any LAN events for well over a year, with the last live competition being the Washington Justice Homestand back in February 2020.
However, with health and safety conditions improving, Blizzard have announced three live events for China, with the first taking place in June. They are:
- June 4th - 6th: Hangzhou Spark (June Joust)
- July 9th - 11th: Shanghai Dragons (Summer Showdown)
- August 7th - 8th: Guangzhou Charge (Countdown Cup)
The events will be running at a reduced capacity, but some fans will nevertheless be able to attend. Every team in the Eastern region will be competing, however only the Chinese teams - Hunters, Charge, Spark, Valiant, and Dragons - will attend the events in person. The Korean teams - NYXL, Fusion, and Dynasty - will appear remotely via the cloud tournament server.
There's no news yet as to whether Western events will also take place, but with restrictions starting to lift in some countries, it's not out of the question just yet.