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[FONT="]Doing well in Overwatch can help your country reach this year's World Cup.[FONT="]
| 03/30/2017 11:30 AM PT
[/FONT]NEWS
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The Overwatch World Cup is making a return, and this time around, you can help your country reach the top.
Starting today, we will begin tracking the skill ratings of the top 100 players from every country to determine each countrys average rating, Blizzards post on the subject reads. Then, in April, well use those average ratings to identify which 32 countries from around the world have the most skilled players. These countries will move on to our live qualifiers where they will battle in groups of eight for a chance to compete on the BlizzCon 2017 stage.
The first step of the process is to choose the top 32-ranking countries, determined by average skill ranking. This means that the more players boost their skill ratings, the higher their country will be ranked. At the moment, South Korea is leading the list with an average skill rating of 4534, China is in second place with 4531, and the United States is claiming third place with an even 4500 skill rating. Players have 26 more days to make those numbers change, however.
Once a country has made it onto the top 32-list, players will vote on local experts to make up their own 2017 Overwatch World Cup National Committee. Those experts will be responsible for picking teams based on statistics, player synergy, and past game performance. Only eligible players will be able to vote, though the definition of what makes a player eligible hasnt yet been released.
Once teams are decided, theyll enter the week-long qualifier rounds that will be held in the summer. Matches can be watched online or in-person at four different stage events in North America, Europe, and Asia. The top two finishers will automatically move on to the final stage: the World Cup finals at BlizzCon.
The full details of the selection process can be found on Blizzards page here. If you want to keep an eye on your countrys average skill rank, the automatically-updated list can be found on the official site.
Source: Blizzard
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Last month, Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan mentioned that Blizzard was open to the possibility of bringing the popular first-person shooter to the Nintendo Switch, though the task would be very challenging. Now, Express had the chance to talk to Kaplan a bit more about the possibility of a Switch version.
First off, Kaplan noted the difficulty of maintaining the game on three platforms while patching simultaneously.
Our first couple of patches would come out on PC first and then later on the consoles. And a lot of that is because youre working with Microsoft and Sony, and you want to be compliant to their ecosystems, Kaplan said. Adding a third ecosystem to that just adds a lot of complexity for us, as well.
However, Kaplan isnt about to completely dismiss the idea of a Switch version, saying that he likes to tell people were very open-minded about what platforms we could be on, and that just because they are not on a platform as of right now, that doesnt necessarily mean they wont consider it in the future.
Heres a look at all of Kaplans comments regarding the Switch:
I think the problem is, weve really targeted our min spec in a way that we would have to revisit performance and how to get on that platform. And also, its already challenging right now maintaining three platforms and patching simultaneously, which is something that weve finally been able to achieve.
Our first couple of patches would come out on PC first and then later on the consoles. And a lot of that is because youre working with Microsoft and Sony, and you want to be compliant to their ecosystems. Adding a third ecosystem to that just adds a lot of complexity for us, as well.
But I always like to tell people were very open-minded about what platforms we could be on. Just because were not on a platform right now, it doesnt mean we wont reconsider it in the future, so we stay aware of all these things.
Overwatch is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Read more stories about Overwatch & PC & PlayStation 4 & Xbox One on Siliconera.
