- The event will run from October 30 to November 4
- Each region will have localized online play-ins before participating in the Final’s eliminations
- The winner will take home the grand prize of $1 million
Fans are eager to finally see the first in-person Overwatch League Grand Finals held in three years, which will be hosted at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Blizzard Announces the Dates and Place of the Event
The biggest Overwatch event of the year is coming and Blizzard finally released the time and place where the Overwatch League 2022 Grand Finals will be. The Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, will be the home of the Grand Finals from the period of October 30 to November 4.
Many fans of Blizzard games would perhaps recognize the venue as the usual location where the company hosts BlizzCon, which is often held during that same weekend. The League saw many North American cities be host to it – from Dallas to Toronto. The event will be the culmination of all the Overwatch tournaments that have been held this year.
The last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic interfered with many esports events and gaming conventions, including BlizzCon. The event will likely return in 2023 but in the meantime, the Overwatch League will take place during the standard BlizzCon weekend this year.
What Else Do We Know about the Event?
The Overwatch League 2022 Grand Finals will be the first such event to be held in-person in three years. Because of the previously mentioned pandemic, last year, as well as 2020’s Grand Finals were held online with many teams having to travel to different parts of the world to have lower ping when competing.
Although the news that this year’s Grand Finals will be held in-person, teams from each region will still have to participate in localized online play-ins, according to the Overwatch League official announcement. The remaining teams will then travel to Anaheim to participate in a double-elimination playoffs bracket. There the teams will compete for a part of the $2.55 million prize pool, with the winner taking $1 million home, as well as lifting the iconic trophy above their heads.
It would be interesting to see how the teams will adapt to Overwatch’s newest support hero Kiriko. It was confirmed that the hero, combining elements of Genji and Hanzo’s gameplay style with healing abilities, will be released on October 4. This means teams will have about four weeks to develop new strategies around the hero.
With the Overwatch League 2022 Grand Finals being held in front of a live audience for the first time in three years, many fans are eager to buy tickets, pre-sales of which will begin on September 23.
