Overwatch 2: Calling All Heroes Returns
Last year the Overwatch League introduced a new event called Calling All Heroes. The initiative’s goal was to focus on equity, visibility and community support for underrepresented genders in the competitive space of Overwatch. Last year, Calling All Heroes culminated in the Challenger’s Cup Final and Blizzard and the OWL have announced that it will be returning for the 2023-2024 season.
Calling All Heroes
One of the core pillars of Overwatch has always been its diversity. From earlier on in its launch the game has featured a wildly diverse cast of characters. With the Calling All Heroes initiative, the Overwatch League is hoping to showcase just as diverse a group of players on the competitive stage with more opportunities than before.
Working with third-party tournament organizers from across the esports space they’re creating two recurring events; the Challengers Series and Speaker Series.
Challengers Series
The Challengers Series Circuit will replace the Challengers Cup from last year. It will serve as a year-long competition with several qualifier events hosted by different third-party organizations.
The regular season starts in April and will last until November. The series will consist of both Majors and Minors with 6 total events in the regular season.
The best teams at the end of the season will make their way to the Championship event in February 2024 hosted by Blizzard. There will also be a last chance qualifier that takes place in January 2024.
How to Compete
The first event for the Challenger Series Circuit will be the Raidiant Heroes Major 1 with third-party partner Raidiant. They’re also the official partner for all Major events in the 2023-2024 Challenger Series.
You’ll be able to find all the information about registration on the Calling All Heroes website. Registration starts on March 24th, 20023 and ends on April 18th, 2023. To participate you’ll need to be a verified member of the Calling All Heroes Discord.
The competition for the first Major will take place from April 21st to April 23rd and will be broadcast live on the Overwatch League and Raidiant Channels.
Tournament format will consist of open registration and up to 48 teams that will participate in a two-stage event. The first stage will have 7 rounds of Swiss Play with the top 16 teams moving on to a Single-Elimination bracket. Prizing for 1st through 16th place includes a prize pool of USD $10,000 and circuit points.
For more information be sure to check the Calling All Heroes website
Speakers Series
Blizzard and the Overwatch recognize that the competitive space wouldn’t be where it was with just players. With the Speaker Series they’re aim is to bring diversity and inclusion to every role within the competitive space including; game observing, event organization, going pro, content creation, casting and more.
With the return of the Calling All Heroes Caster Camp, they’re planning on holding Speaker Series sessions on the first Wednesday of every month. The first session will focus on Game Observation with members from the Overwatch League Observer team.
This event will offer participants the chance to learn from the actual people who work on the OWL, submit their own observing reels and receive review by the official panel of instructors.
Registration begins on March 24th and ends on April 4th with the panel taking place on April 5th. For more information or any questions, you can check the Calling All Heroes website or Discord Channel.
