FACEIT League for Overwatch with invite slots for ESWC announced, includes additional regions

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has announced the FACEIT League, a tiered Overwatch team league system extending into more regions than OWCS. The FACEIT League will also offer invite slots for the Esports World Cup and a total prize pool of $170,000 (~£137,700 / €158,100).

A bigger competitive playground

FACEIT is coming to Overwatch, bringing more regions into the fold. Players of all skill levels from North America, EMEA, and crucially Oceania (including Australia) and South America will be able to participate in the several tiered leagues, separated from Open to Advanced, Expert and Master.

Players may start in the higher divisions based on their Elo rating as evaluated based on their Overwatch ranks. Each season is said to last seven weeks in total and will run three times a year, with season 1 kicking off on April 29 and running until June 9, after which the playoffs will commence from June 9 to June 23.

Registration is already open and will close on April 25, giving players several weeks to build teams until the start of the season. Players have to sign up for a FACEIT subscription of €20.97 for a season or €71.88 for a year to compete.

The modest prize pool of $170,000, split across all regions, will be awarded to the top three teams in EMEA and North America, as well as the winners of LATAM and OCE. These teams will be directly invited to participate in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this summer.

FACEIT Reception

Over the last couple of months, FACEIT has been running the Overwatch Championship Series, using its platform to facilitate all three stages of the competition, including the up to 512-team-strong Swiss Stage as well as the Group Stage and Playoffs. 

OWCS Group Stage teams have told GGRecon that the communication with FACEIT officials has been a step change over correspondence in Overwatch League or Overwatch Contenders, with FACEIT collecting feedback to allegedly inform format and other rule decisions.

The incorporation of South America and Oceania has been well received, with long-standing Overwatch esports communities once again getting to participate in Overwatch esports. For OWCS, popular Overwatch regions like Australia were excluded.

However, Russia and China remain unable to compete. While Asia did not receive a dedicated league, players from the region will still be able to compete in one of the six available ones but have to adhere to the import slot limitation of two players per team.

While designed as a complementary product to the Overwatch Championship Series with match days avoiding scheduling issues between the two competitions and currently largely similar competitive rulesets, its existence and especially the much sought-after invites for the Esports World Cup might see teams prioritise the FACEIT League when having to make the choice.