BlizzCon 2016 Esports Opening Week: October 27– November 1
Elite esports players from across the globe, including those representing Australia and New Zealand, will be travelling to North America next month to compete at BlizzCon Opening Week; all with hopes of making it to the BlizzCon stage on November 5-6 AEDT. In addition to rounds of competition for World of Warcraft Arena, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, and StarCraft II, this year’s Opening Week will also include group stage matches for the Overwatch World Cup—an international exhibition series pitting the world’s best against one another.
All of the action during Opening Week will be streamed live and free of charge on blizzcon.com, as detailed below:
| Times listed are AEDT | 27/10 | 28/10 | 29/10 | 30/10 | 31/10 | 1/11 |
| World of Warcraft Arena | 5:00am | |||||
| Heroes of the Storm | 3:00am | 3:00am | 3:00am | |||
| Overwatch | 6:00am | 6:00am | 6:00am | |||
| Hearthstone | 3:00am | 3:00am | 3:00am | 3:00am | 3:00am | |
| StarCraft II | 4:30am | 4:30am | 4:30am | 4:30am |
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World of Warcraft Arena World Championship Prize Pool: $250,000 USD Number of Players: 8 Teams (3–4 players per team) Schedule: October 29, 5:00am AEDT
Matches: Ahead of the Grand Finals on stage at BlizzCon, the top eight World of Warcraft Arena teams from around the world will play their first group stage matches on October 29. All eight teams will then travel to BlizzCon, where those who emerge victorious from the remaining group stages will do battle in a single-elimination bracket until the champions are crowned.
Heroes of the Storm Fall Global Championship Prize Pool: $1,000,000 USD Number of Players: 12 Teams (5 players per team) Schedule: October 27–29, 3:00am AEDT
Matches: For three days during Opening Week, the 12 qualified teams will compete in the first of two dual-tournament group stages until only eight remain. The second group stage will get underway during Opening Week, but all eight teams will get to play on the BlizzCon stage before it concludes, and the top four head into a single-elimination bracket.
Overwatch World Cup Number of Players: 16 Teams (6 players per team) Schedule: October 30–November 1, 6:00am AEDT
Matches: Following the online qualifiers, 16 teams representing nations and regions from around the globe will compete for glory during Opening Week. After three days of best-of-three, round-robin group stages, only eight teams will remain to compete in a single-elimination bracket in the BlizzCon arena.
Hearthstone World Championship Prize Pool: $1,000,000 USD Number of Players: 16 Schedule: October 27–31, 3:00am AEDT
Matches: Spread across no fewer than five days, this year’s Hearthstone World Championship group stages will all take place during Opening Week. Four groups of four players will compete in a dual-tournament format until only eight challengers remain, having earned the right to compete in the BlizzCon single-elimination bracket.
StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Finals Prize Pool: $500,000 USD Number of Players: 16 Schedule: October 28–31, 4:30am AEDT
Matches: The top 16 players—seven major tournament winners plus nine based on WCS points—will compete in the Global Playoffs during Opening Week. Only the eight players who make it through the double-elimination group will advance to BlizzCon, where a single-elimination bracket incorporating best-of-five matches and a best-of-seven grand final will determine the WCS Global Champion.
Please note that while some BlizzCon streams are available only with a Virtual Ticket purchase, all BlizzCon esports streams, including Opening Week will be available FREE!
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