The Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) 2026 World Finals run from Wednesday 2 to Sunday 6 December 2026 in Guangzhou, China, according to Blizzard. It is five days of competition: two days of studio matches that set the first elimination games, then three days, 4–6 December, at the Guangzhou Gymnasium with fans in the building.

Blizzard says 12 teams will play. Six from North America and EMEA have qualified; the other six come from the Asia and China circuits. Blizzard has not yet published match start times, the prize pool, ticket details or the bracket.

Dates and times

Guangzhou is on China Standard Time (UTC+8) all year, and New York is on EST (UTC−5) in December, so Guangzhou is 13 hours ahead of ET and 2.5 hours ahead of IST. The dates below are from Blizzard's Stage 3 viewers guide. Blizzard hasn't published match start times yet (unconfirmed), so the table gives each day's local date only. We'll add UTC, ET and IST start times when Blizzard posts the schedule.

Day

Date (Guangzhou, ISO)

Stage

Where

1

2026-12-02 (UTC+08:00)

Studio matches

Studio, Guangzhou (venue not named)

2

2026-12-03 (UTC+08:00)

Studio matches

Studio, Guangzhou (venue not named)

3

2026-12-04 (UTC+08:00)

Elimination matches, fans attend

Guangzhou Gymnasium

4

2026-12-05 (UTC+08:00)

Elimination matches, fans attend

Guangzhou Gymnasium

5

2026-12-06 (UTC+08:00)

Final day

Guangzhou Gymnasium

Time conversion for when the schedule lands: a 13:00 start in Guangzhou is 05:00 UTC, 00:00 ET (midnight) and 10:30 IST on the same date. Calendar range: 2026-12-02T00:00:00+08:00 to 2026-12-06T23:59:59+08:00.

Qualified teams

Overwatch Esports said on 2 November that the first six teams are locked in after the North America and EMEA Stage 3 Playoffs (30 October–1 November), and that six more spots remain.

Region

Team

How they qualified

EMEA

Twisted Minds

Stage 3 EMEA champions; reigning world champions (OWCS on X)

EMEA

Team Peps

Stage 3 Playoffs qualification (OWCS on X)

EMEA

1234

EMEA's last berth (OWCS on X)

North America

Dallas Fuel

Stage 3 NA champions (OWCS on X)

North America

Team Liquid

Stage 3 NA finalist (OWCS on X)

North America

Spacestation Gaming

NA's last ticket (OWCS on X)

Asia

Four teams, to be decided

Top four of the OWCS Asia Stage 3 Finals at BEXCO, Busan

China

Two teams, to be decided

OWCS China Stage 3 (route not detailed by Blizzard; unconfirmed)

The Asia Stage 3 Finals bring eight teams from the Korea, Japan and Pacific sub-regions to the BEXCO Auditorium during the G-STAR convention in Busan, South Korea, and only the top four go to Guangzhou, Blizzard says. The split of the last six spots into four Asia and two China teams follows from Blizzard's 12-team total and the four Asia places; Blizzard hasn't spelled out China's allocation, so treat that as unconfirmed.

Format

Blizzard confirms only the shape of the week: two studio days that decide the first elimination games, then three arena days. The bracket type and series lengths are unconfirmed. Liquipedia also lists the format and map pool as TBA.

Prize pool

Blizzard hasn't announced a 2026 World Finals prize pool. We'll add the total in US dollars and the payout by placing once it does.

Tickets and where to watch

Blizzard says fans can attend the three Guangzhou Gymnasium days, 4–6 December, but hasn't published ticket sales or prices. OWCS matches stream on the official Overwatch Esports channels listed at esports.overwatch.com; Blizzard hasn't yet confirmed the World Finals broadcast line-up.

Sources

Sources & verification

Sources last verified on . This article covers published information, not hands-on testing.

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