Overwatch esports bootcamp kicks off at T1 headquarters

by

Blizzard’s Sean Miller and Craig Cheon recently shared their thoughts on the future of Overwatch esports in 2026, including details about the first-ever OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp.

The Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) has started its first-ever Pre-Season Bootcamp this year. The bootcamp is being held at the T1 Academy, located at T1’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.

OWCS teams enter Pre-Season Bootcamp

The Pre-Season Bootcamp, first revealed at DreamHack Stockholm 2025, is designed to prepare select teams for the first stage of the Overwatch World Cup (OWCS). Participating teams will get a sneak peek at new game content and the latest competitive build, along with a dedicated space for daily practice and teamwork. The bootcamp also provides a valuable opportunity for Overwatch teams to share strategies and learn from players and coaches within the South Korean competitive scene.

So, the Overwatch Champions Series is starting up this week! We’re heading to Seoul for a bootcamp to get everyone prepped, and then the full season kicks off in March. It’s gonna run all year, and the big finale – the World Finals – will be held in China. Ben Bell, the executive producer, announced all this at the recent Overwatch Spotlight event.

Sean Miller, who leads Overwatch esports, recently told Xpsp why the Overwatch Champions Series Pre-Season Bootcamp was created.

Every program we offer has a specific goal. For instance, after Nightmare unexpectedly defeated Crazy Raccoon at a competition in Hangzhou earlier this year, everyone was shocked. We immediately started looking into how they’d achieved such a win, and discovered many teams were using intensive ‘bootcamps’ – especially when competing in Asia, often in Korea – to significantly improve their performance. Our Pre-Season Bootcamp is designed to do the same thing – to help teams from all regions improve and become more competitive before the Overwatch Champions Series season begins.

Craig Cheon, who leads esports product development for Asia-Pacific at Xpsp, recently explained in an interview why Seoul was selected to host the program.

Cheon explained that Korea is a leading country for esports, pointing to the high-quality practice facilities available to the teams. He added that being in Korea will allow them to practice with minimal lag thanks to the country’s excellent internet infrastructure, and that they’ll also benefit from experiencing Korean culture.

OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp teams and tournament

The teams competing include Team Liquid, Dallas Fuel, and Disguised representing North America, Twisted Minds, Virtus.pro, and Team Peps from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Team Falcons, Crazy Raccoon, and T1 from Korea, along with Weibo Gaming and All Gamers Global from China. VARREL has been invited to compete from Japan.

The OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp prepares players for a 12-team tournament held at WDG Studio in Hongdae, South Korea. The tournament kicks off on February 12th at 1:00 AM Pacific Time.

Overwatch esports loot boxes

Fans can watch the esports competition on Ambush’s Twitch channel, as well as the official streams on Twitch, YouTube, and SOOP. Throughout the event, viewers can earn rewards like Overwatch loot boxes and exclusive sprays and skins – including items for Ashe and Reinhardt – through Twitch and YouTube Drops.

A big year for Overwatch esports

Beyond the Overwatch Champions Series, the Overwatch World Cup will also be happening in 2026, taking place at BlizzCon.

According to game director Aaron Keller, the Overwatch World Cup is returning in September alongside BlizzCon. He described the tournament as a way to celebrate the passionate global community of Overwatch players.

Read More

2026-02-10 01:41