News of the Fortnite World Cup (and the 16-year-old winner’s US$3 million prize) may still be fresh on our minds, but we’re holding out hope that our own compatriots will get a chance to put Singapore on the global esports map this year.
Turn your gaze now to the Overwatch World Cup (OWC) 2019, set to take place in California this November. It’ll be the fourth edition of Blizzard Entertainment’s international Overwatch tournament, and like previous tournaments, the focus for players is more on bragging rights and the opportunity to represent their home countries than the prize money.
Money’s still on the table, obviously — the top eight teams took home US$16,000 each (S$22,000) in last year’s OWC.
Earlier today, Team Singapore Overwatch unveiled the players who’ll be flying the flag at the Anaheim Convention Centre in November. Making up the roster’s DPS (Damage per Second) lineup are Akame, Bubblekitty, and Yuris. Sachokk and Xenofly take the tanking roles, while Jervyz and Zeonflux are playing support.
“This still feels f***ing surreal to me, never have I thought that my first breakthrough would be with (Team Singapore) on the World Cup stage,” posted Yuris on Twitter.
On Reddit, the team’s community lead mentioned that they’re currently working on partnerships and deals with sponsors to fund their operations. After all, Singapore’s not on OWC’s top 10 list of countries — teams that receive Blizzard’s full support for round-trip airfare, transportation, and accommodation.
OWC 2019 kicks off at BlizzCon on Nov 1, and all matches will be broadcast live online. Esketit, lads.
ilyas@asiaone.com