Overwatch Esports shared a press release on November 29, 2025, explaining the future for its professional esports scene, as well as the layout for the future collegiate partnership with the National Association for Collegiate Esports (NACE), which was brand new for the 2025-2026 school year.
Gearing Up For the Return of the Spring Championship
There was a large amount of uncertainty in the Collegiate Overwatch space after the cancellation of the Overwatch Collegiate Spring Season in Spring 2025, which resulted in schools like Maryville University and University of California Irvine sunsetting their Varsity Overwatch teams.
Overwatch Collegiate made a triumphant return to the collegiate esports space after a spring hiatus, with Overwatch Homecoming 2025 bringing in 241 teams in the Open Division, 51 teams in the Varsity Premier Division, and 63 Teams in the Varsity Plus Division.

Key Differences and Similarities From The Fall Tournament
The spring season will culminate with LAN Finals, which will take place on April 23-26, with a location to be announced in the future. This would be the first in-person Overwatch Collegiate Championship run by Activision Blizzard since 2019. Open and NACE Varsity Premier Division finalists are eligible to make the LAN Finals.
Eligible schools can sign up for both Open and Varsity competition, however, Varsity competition is restricted to NACE Members. The Open Division will likely be more competitive with the larger prize pool and lower barrier of entry, while NACE’s Varsity Premier League will see a smaller prize pool. The 2026 Spring Championship Tournament features a $100,000 Prize Pool across both divisions, a much higher number than the total $42,000 prize pool for Overwatch Homecoming.
For those unfamiliar with the current Collegiate Structure with Overwatch Esports, here are some key differences you should know:
- NACE Division
- Players verified through the NACE system with stricter eligibility requirements
- Smaller participation numbers (~51 in Varsity Premier), smaller prize pool
- Matches are played exclusively on weekdays in a Round Robin format for the Regular Season in Groups or Superconferences
- There is a Varsity Premier Division and a Varsity Plus Division
- Varsity Premier – Only one team per school can sign up. Scholarship prizing is awarded and is generally reserved for Varsity/D1 Esports Teams.
- Varsity Plus – Unlimited teams per school can participate. No scholarship prizing is awarded, and is generally played by Club/D2+ Teams. Teams play in groups based on Region/Rank and compete for the top spot in their group.
- Open
- Higher participation numbers (~243), higher prize pool
- Swiss format for the regular season, with a “Superweekend” to determine the Top 32 for playoffs
- Anyone team playing in NACE Divisions are welcome to play in Open
- Both Divisions
- Matches begin in February with Playoffs in March
- There will be an Open Championship Finals and a NACE Varsity Premier Finals at the LAN Event in April
- It is important to note these are separate divisions and there are going to be two “Grand Finals” events in the Overwatch Collegiate Space

Information for Open Division
The National Open Championship will have multiple tournament stages:
- February 19: Main Season Swiss will kick off and take place over the course of three weeks, allowing teams to develop strategies for the postseason seeding and playoffs
- March 7 – 8: Superweekend is a gauntlet of 6 Swiss Matches to determine post-season seeding, with the top 32 teams advancing
- March 13: The Knockout phase is a single-elimination bracket seeded by Swiss performance, and is set to be an incredibly high-stakes day, with only 8 teams advancing
- March 15 – 16: Playoffs will feature a double elimination bracket to determine which teams head to the live event Finals in April
- April 23 – 26: Live Finals
The National Open Championship Season starts February 19, 2026 and eligible student teams can register now through February 12, 2026.

Information for Varsity Premier and Plus Divisions
- February 2: The Main Season kicks off and there are 7 weeks of Round Robin play, based on assigned Regional Groups or Self-Select Conferences. The Top 32 teams from the Groups stage will advance to playoffs.
- March 30 – April 2: The Playoffs will feature a single elimination bracket seeded by Groups results and the NACE Seeding Committee. The top teams for Varsity Premier will be invited to the live event Finals in April.
For the Varsity Plus Tier, teams will play Round Robin in their respective eight-team divisions, with top teams playing in their divisional championships and competing for the top spot in their division. Unlike Open and Varsity tiers, there is no cross-division grand finals, and there is no cash prizing for this tier. While it is expected this schedule is similar to Varsity Premier, there has been no official schedule launched for Varsity Plus at this time.
The Championship Varsity Premier Season starts Monday, February 2, and NACE Member schools can register now. If your school is not a NACE member, you can reach out to a staff member with this form.

College Esports News will keep you up-to-date on everything Overwatch Collegiate. In the mean time, you can register for the open division and join the Overwatch Collegiate and NACE Esports Discord servers.




