Discontent and a dozen cancellations setting the tone for upcoming Overwatch World Cup

Over the past few months we have kept a close eye on the Overwatch World Cup (OWWC). Ever since the Overwatch World Cup 2019 rosters were announced, the stage was set for a tournament filled with drama and battles for national pride. As the months went by, Blizzards decisions to open the doors to all potential national teams but cut funding has caused mayhem around the globe.

The No-Shows

Around ten teams from those attending the Preliminaries have managed to secure funding early on and attain sponsorships, the rest had to make extensive appeals to fans or potential partners in order to afford attending the World Cup this year. Some have withdrawn from the event entirely citing a lack of support from either the Sponsors, Blizzard or the fans.

In the end the following twelve teams have announced they would not be attending the Overwatch Wold Cup 2019:

Argentina

Bulgaria

Chile

Egypt

Israel

Greece

Kuwait

Malaysia

Peru

Poland

Romania

Switzerland

The remaining 35 teams have mostly confirmed their attendance and some have already arrived in California for the upcoming event. Some teams are still actively seeking support days before the event in order to afford paying for accommodation and meals. Blizzard has not been proactive in updating their Overwatch World Cup page or actively divulging any information related to the event. Last year all participants received $16,000 in prize funds regardless of placements. As of this moment, this year’s OWWC has no prize fund publicly announced.

For those seeking to support their national team at the last moment, a nifty Master List was published by concerned parties that updates about the state of every National Team and ways to support their trip.

The Shows

Negative press aside, we still look forward to the remaining teams in their battle for global supremacy. For many first time attendees the tournament will prove a valuable ground to prove their worth and possibly get scouted by the professionals organizations during the Overwatch League Free Agency period.

Our Overwatch World Cup Power Rankings still remain valid coming into the event with South Korea and Canada still dominating the pick’ems and Overwatch betting providers. For those interested in betting on Overwatch, note that Philadelphia Fusion’s Gael “Poko” Gouzerch won’t representing France at the event. Chengdu’s Huang “leave” Xin would not be representing China for the event citing health issues. Both absentees might knock the power rankings of both National Teams down a peg.

From the Preliminaries roster swaps, Team Gigganti and Finland representatives Tuomo “Davin” Leppänen and Aleksi “Zuppeh” Kuntsi swap places on the National Team, as Davin cannot attend due to personal issues. Hao “ZeonFlux” Haiyang will not be attending for team Singapore after stepping down from the team.

Finally, Félix “xQc” Lengyel did not shy away from critiquing everything OWWC related. As the largest Twitch Streamer and a loud voice in the community, xQc recently stated:

“If things don’t change, this World Cup will be the last of him playing Overwatch.”

With such a strong sentiment from one of the biggest names in Overwatch, Blizzard is put on notice to deliver an amazing event during the upcoming Blizzcon.

Overwatch World Cup 2019 Showtime

The Overwatch World Cup kicks off this Thursday October 31, 10AM PT with the Preliminaries round. United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, Russia, Finland and all attending non-top teams will battle for the remaining 5 slots into the main event. The Group Stage and Medal Round will happen during the Weekend starting at Friday, November 1, 12:15PM PT

In order to follow all the action, check out one of the four different streams Blizzard announced: