Indian esports is off to a brilliant start this year and the recent announcement by Blizzard Entertainment has only added positively to it. India has been provided with a direct slot to the Overwatch World Cup 2023 which is scheduled to take place in Fall 2023.
In an official statement published by the developers, 36 countries from different regions were handed out slots for the upcoming world championship. India is among those invited and has attained a spot in Group B of the Asia-Pacific Conference alongside Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand.
The trials for the national team selection will start next month onwards, in February 2023, via open tournaments, followed by final team selection in March 2023, and the regional qualifiers set to take place in June 2023.
India among 36 countries invited to the Overwatch World Cup 2023
In December last year, Blizzard had revealed that the Overwatch World Cup would be returning in 2023 after a hiatus of more than three years, the last such tournament having been conducted in 2019, where United States was crowned as the champions.
For its fifth edition, 36 countries have been invited and India is among those that will be competing in the regional qualifiers. All participants have been divided into three regions, each region consisting of two groups of different countries.
Overwatch World Cup 2023 Americas Conference
Group A
Canada
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Mexico
Puerto Rico
United States
Group B
Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Peru
Overwatch World Cup 2023 Europe and Middle East Conference
Group A
Belgium
France
United Kingdom
Italy
Netherlands
Spain
Group B
Germany
Norway
Poland
Saudi Arabia
Sweden
Turkey
Overwatch World Cup 2023 Asia-Pacific Conference
Group A
Taiwan
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Japan
Philippines
South Korea
Group B
Australia
India
Malaysia
New Zealand
Singapore
Thailand
Apart from this, the general flow of how things will proceed and lead up to the Overwatch World Cup 2023 has also been shared by Blizzard. The next three months will witness teams being selected for each country, followed by the World Cup Qualifiers in June and main event taking place sometime in Fall 2023.