Blizzard has announced a series of offline, interregional Contenders events that will take place in 2019.

Players celebrating LAN win Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment

The first series of events are the Showdowns, where the top Contenders teams from the newly created Pacific and Atlantic divisions will compete in a double elimination bracket.

The Pacific Showdown will be hosted in China from May 24 to the 26 with two teams from both China and Korea and the one team each from Australia and the Pacific.

The Atlantic Showdown will take place in either Europe or the Americas from May 31 to June 2 with the three teams from the two North American regions, two from Europe, and one team from South America.

They also revealed the Gauntlet, which will take place from October 10 to October 13. Teams will be invited based on the results from the Atlantic Showdown and the Pacific Showdown. Teams in the Gauntlet will compete in a group stage before playing in a double-elimination bracket. The location for the Gauntlet will be determined at a later date.

The Gauntlet will take place following the end of the Overwatch League season as teams enter the offseason in search of new talent.

More details about the Showdowns and the Gauntlet will be revealed at later dates.