With a feast of high profiles finals set before us this holiday season it is with a grateful groan that we greet the news of the $100,000 Overwatch Winter Premiere tournament from Next Generation Esports and Blizzard - the more the merrier!

Winter Premiere offers $100K for the holidays

The opportunity to compete will be open to North Americans, and even better, the opportunity to actually watch the qualifiers will be open to all (I'm looking at you DreamHack). Those aforementioned qualifiers will be getting underway from December 10th and represent the only way to earn a shot at the big prize - no invitees and no drama (I'm looking at you MLG).

Here's how the schedule currently breaks down:

  • Open Play
    • December 10th-13th
    • Four play days
    • Top two from each day qualify
  • Round of 8
    • December 26th-28th & January 2nd-4th
    • Round Robin
    • Six teams advance
  • Round of 6
    • January 9th-11th
    • Round Robin
    • Four teams advance
  • Live Finals
    • End of January
    • 2 day event
    • Four teams fight for a piece of the $100,000 pie

Registration through the smash.gg service appears to be live now.

Set to be a treat for fans as "all online qualifier broadcasts and group play will be streamed directly from NGE studios in Burbank, CA", so expect some high quality razzle-dazzle from the get-go as the biggest names in North American Overwatch will be lured out to fight for your entertainment.