2022 Overwatch League season

The 2022 season will be played on an early build of Blizzard's upcoming title Overwatch 2.[1] As such, matches will be played with teams of five, rather than teams of six.[2] The minimum number of players on a team was decreased from seven to six, while the maximum number of players remains at twelve. Teams may sign players to a minimum of one season and may add an option to extend that contract for an additional year, if they so choose. Teams may also sign players to short-term 30-day contracts and two-way contracts. Additionally, the league's minimum salary was increased from US$50,000 to $50,700.[3]

As with the prior two seasons, the twenty teams will be divided into two regions, the East and West. Seven teams from China and South Korea will compete in the East Region, while thirteen teams from North America and Europe will compete in the West Division. While the majority of matches in the 2020 and 2021 seasons were played online, live events will return for the 2022 season.[4]

Casters Brennon "Bren" Hook (left) and Josh "Sideshow" Wilkinson (right) left the broadcast team prior to the season.

In January 2022, shoutcasters Brennon "Bren" Hook and Josh "Sideshow" Wilkinson, who had been with the broadcast team since the league's inaugural season, announced that they did "not have an agreement for 2022 with Overwatch League, marking the end of [their] four years as broadcast talent."[5] In an interview with Dot Esports, the duo noted that the time limit in which negotiations had to take place, as well as the monetary value of the deals, were the main reason for their departure.[6] However, they clarified that they would still be involved with the league via co-streams.[7] The league announced their talent lineup on April 11, 2022, which included neither Hook nor Wilkinson.[8]

On April 20, 2022, the OWL announced that they would be launching a co-streaming initiative, in which select streamers would be able to stream OWL broadcasts simultaneously with their own. It will be the first time that the league has allowed co-streaming, and co-streams are restricted to only be broadcast on YouTube.[9]

The Kickoff Clash will be the first of four midseason tournament cycles of the season. Qualifiers will begin on May 5 in the West region,[11] while the East region qualifiers will be delayed until May 20 due to increasing COVID-19 concerns in China.[12] Teams that advance past the qualifiers will play in their respective regional tournaments, which will take place from June 2 to 5. The West region tournament will take place live at Esports Stadium Arlington, marking the first time that the OWL will have a live event since the 2019 playoffs.[13]