Top-ranked teams from the group stage advanced to a single-elimination playoff bracket at Blizzard's BlizzCon event every November.

Dan Szymborski of ESPN stated that Overwatch was poised as the next big esport for having a sufficiently different look and playstyle from established esports games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Call of Duty, enough variety in maps and characters, and strong support from Blizzard to maintain the game for a long time.

[2] Bryant Francis writing for Gamasutra noted the speed and short match times of Overwatch make the game highly favorable for viewership, further supporting the title as an esports.

[7] In August 2016, Blizzard announced their own Overwatch international tournament, allowing users to vote for teams to represent their nation or region.

A country's national ranking was determined by a point-ranking system based on final placements in the previous World Cups.

The top five countries based on their national ranking were not required to play in the preliminary rounds and received a bye to the group stages.

[22] Official live stream broadcast channels were provided in English, Chinese, Korean, French, Russian, German, Japanese, and Thai.

[22] Prior to the third edition of the event, Disney and Blizzard Entertainment announced a multi-year deal for coverage of Overwatch esports.