OWCS Stage 3: Format, Schedule and Teams

The 2025 Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) has entered its third and final stage of competitive play, with tournaments held in North America, EMEA, China, and Asia’s three sub-regions.

The esports scene enters a pivotal moment as teams compete for a place in the World Finals later this year before wrapping up the 2025 season.

With that in mind, here’s everything fans need to know about OWCS Stage 3 ahead of the events’ starting dates in September.

Two of OWCS’ biggest regions, NA and EMEA, will run Stage 3 from September 6th to October 26th, 2025.

The stage begins with the Regular Season, from September 6th to October 12th, with best-of-five matches taking place in a Round Robin format.

The top six teams from both regions will advance to their respective regional playoffs, from October 18th to 26th, with a double-elimination bracket and a best-of-seven Grand Final.

Both regions feature a total of eight teams. Some have been invited through Stage 2 placements, while others have qualified through the promotion/relegation tournament, where the bottom Stage 2 teams faced off against top teams from Face It League Masters Division Season 5.

These are all the teams playing in OWCS Stage 3 EMEA and NA:

China will operate with a different schedule to NA and EMEA. The Regular Season will be shorter, from September 6th to October 5th. Furthermore, the Regional Playoffs will run from October 10th to 12th, 2025.

Four teams have already been invited based on the China Stage 2 placements; however, four more teams will be decided through the Open Qualifiers. The Swiss Stage runs from August 16th to 17th, followed by a Group Stage and a Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). The top teams from each stage will successfully qualify.

Here are all of the teams competing for China Stage 3:

Asia has three sub-regions: Japan, Korea, and the Pacific. The top two teams from Pacific and Japan will move on to Stage 3, while Korea will see the top five qualify. Unlike Pacific, Korea and Japan have additional stages.

The Pacific’s Regular Season runs from August 28th to September 25th. This is then followed by the Regional Playoffs on October 1st and 2nd. Eight teams will compete, five invited from Stage 2 and three qualifying through Promotion/Relegation.

Here are all the Pacific teams participating:

Japan begins its Regular Season on August 25th to September 15th, however, it will also have Playoffs Seeding Decider Matches (PSDM) from September 22nd to 24th. It will be Round Robin, best-of-five matches, where the top two teams gain a first round bye.

There will be a LCQ happening alongside the PSDM. Finally, the Regional playoffs take place from September 29th to October 12th. 12 teams will compete in total, seven invited and five from promotion/Relegation

Here are all of Japan’s teams competing:

Korea’s Regular Season begins from August 29th to September 21st, with PSDM taking place shortly after, from October 3rd to 5th. It will also feature an LCQ and Regional Playoffs, though specific teams have yet to be announced.

Nine teams will compete in total: six invited based on the results of Stage 2 and three from the Promotion/Relegation tournament.

These are all of Korea’s team confirmed top be competing on OWCS Stage 3:

Korea’s top five teams will move on to the Asia Stage 3 competition, facing off against the top teams from the other sub-regions. However, specific times and formats have yet to be revealed.

Stage 3 is particularly important compared to previous stages as successfully qualified teams will appear at the OWCS 2025 World Finals at DreamHack Stockholm. Specific formats, schedule and prize pool have yet to be revealed, but over 12 teams are anticipated to play.

This time around, Korea has been awarded three spots in the competition following its performance at the Mid-Season Championship. Here is the distribution of regional teams in the OWCS World Finals.