IntroductionTo kick off the 2026 OWCS Season, we’re bringing OWCS Teams together in Seoul, South Korea for the first ever OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp: an invite-only program where teams can sharpen their skills and showcase them on the brand new Overwatch Season 1 patch in a cross-regional tournament, getting players ready for OWCS Stage 1.
The Pre-Season Bootcamp provides teams with exclusive early access to the upcoming content and competitive build that was just released at the Overwatch Spotlight, along with a structured environment for daily scrims and collaboration. Teams will also train and exchange insights with fellow players and coaches from the broader Overwatch competitive community in South Korea, helping set the foundation for an even more competitive and high-level 2026 Season.
The Pre-Season Bootcamp will run from February 8 - 15, with training hosted at T1 Academy within T1 Headquarters in Seoul. The week will culminate in a live 12-team Tournament, held from February 13 - 15 (KST) at WDG Studio in Hongdae, giving teams a first chance to put their preparation into action. You’ll be able to follow along with your favorite teams and players as they get ready for the tournament, so don’t miss out to see how the best players from across the globe play all of the new content coming in Season 1.
Participating Teams12 teams will participate in the Pre-Season bootcamp: 11 OWCS Partner Teams from NA, EMEA, Asia, and China, plus one invitational team from Japan.
Bootcamp rosters are independent from OWCS Stage 1 rosters, allowing teams flexibility to test lineups ahead of the season.
OWCS Partner Teams (11):
NA: Team Liquid, Dallas Fuel, Disguised
EMEA: Twisted Minds, Virtus.pro, Team Peps
Asia (Korea): Team Falcons, Crazy Raccoon, T1
China: Weibo Gaming, All Gamers Global
Invitational Team:
Asia (Japan): VARREL
The tournament features a 12-team single-elimination bracket, and will be broadcast on OWCS channels in English, Korean, and Japanese. In-person tickets for the OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp Tournament are available for purchase via Ticketlink at the following links:
There’s so much to follow once the tournament gets underway - you can meet our new partner teams, get your first look at all the roster shuffles that have taken place this offseason, and see how these rosters shake out against one another for the first time this year. Will T1 make it to a rematch with Twisted Minds? Will Virtus.pro’s newly retooled roster be enough to fight past All Gamers Global to challenge Team Liquid? Who can be the quickest to adapt to all the changes these teams will see in Season 1’s competitive build? Only time will tell…
You’ll be able to follow the whole week’s worth of Bootcamp action thanks to our amazing suite of Overwatch Co-Streamers! Leading the charge is TL Ambush, who will be coming at you live from T1 HQ with IRL streams, content with your favorite OWCS players, and more. Follow Ambush on all her pages (and ours) for more info!
In addition to Ambush and our main broadcasts, you can tune in to your favorite co-streamer and follow the Pre-Season Bootcamp Tournament in full. Stay tuned to our socials or check out the Twitch Campaigns page (listed further down the article) for a full list of drops-enabled co-streamers.
We’ll be giving away two sets of in-game loot to commemorate the Pre-Season Bootcamp Tournament. Tune in on Feb 13 and 14 to earn the following rewards, including our new Overwatch Esports lootboxes and our first ever in-game title for Esports!
30min: Esports Lootbox
1hr: 2026 OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp Spray
3hr: OWCS Ashe (Home) Skin
4hr: 2026 OWCS Pre-Season Gains Spray
6hr: OWCS Ashe (Away) Skin
7hr: Esports Lootbox
30min: Esports Lootbox
1hr: 2026 OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp Icon
90min: OWCS Reinhardt (Home) Skin
2hr: 2026 OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp Name Card
2.5hr: Esports Lootbox
3hr: OWCS Reinhardt (Away) Skin
3.5hr: Esports Lootbox
4hr: Title: Esports Enthusiast
Overwatch Esports lootboxes contain a huge variety of skins from historic Overwatch Esports programs. You can find popular favorites like the original line of Overwatch Contenders skins, limited releases like Thunder Doomfist and Zhulong Sombra, Overwatch League team skins, and more! We’re excited to roll out these amazing rewards as part of the Pre-Season Bootcamp drops suite. Keep an eye out across the year for other opportunities to earn these lootboxes!
Tune in at the following stream destinations to watch the Pre-Season Bootcamp Tournament when the action begins on Feb 12 (Pacific Time).
Twitch:
YouTube:
SOOP (Korea Media Partner)
To keep up with the rest of our Bootcamp content, follow us on our socials, listed below!
One of the most exciting aspects of OWCS 2025 was seeing how globally competitive the program had become. We’re looking forward to even more of that in 2026, and that all starts here at the OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp! We hope you’ll bring your energy to cheer these teams on as they prepare for the 2026 season in Seoul.
