Overwatch League Partially Delays Start of Season

Eastern region schedule updates, in-person events, and maybe even some !drops 😉

Take a listen to @Soembie and @sean_mmills as they get us ready for #OWL2022 pic.twitter.com/djakaeZb5h

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) April 22, 2022

The Overwatch League matches to be played in 2022 are supposed to start on May 5th, but not all of them will be taking place at their originally scheduled times. Overwatch League organizers announced this week that the East region's games are being pushed back two weeks due to COVID-19 situations. Further changes announced have made it so that these games will now be played over two weeks, according to Overwatch League head Sean Miller.

The latest on the state of the Overwatch League was shared in a video featuring Miller wherein he spoke about the delay of the Eastern matches. Kickoff Clash games will now take place in June, Miller said, with the East's Kickoff Clash qualifiers taking place starting on May 20th now.

"We'll be delaying the East's schedule two weeks, until May 20," Miller said. "So all 21 matches will still be played, but across two weeks, and with both regions' Kickoff Clash tournaments taking place in June."

While that delay is a disappointing one for those who will now have to wait a bit longer to watch their favorite teams play, there is at least some good news. The Western schedule is unaffected by this change, so there won't be an Overwatch League drought for two weeks until the East start up their games. The schedule listing when all of these games will be played has been updated accordingly and can be seen here.

Even if you're not one to typically watch esports matches, this next Overwatch League season is notable for the fact that it'll be played on the Overwatch 2 format instead of Overwatch. That means that you'll be seeing the pros utilizing different hero reworks, some new features, and other changes implemented in the next Overwatch game.

Of course, Overwatch players and those looking forward to Overwatch 2 don't have to wait until the pros play to see more of that new game. The game's first public beta is just a few days away now and is scheduled to get underway on April 26th. Sojourn, the newest hero to be revealed, will be a part of the beta, so expect people to be fighting to play as her as well as the other reworked heroes.