Overwatch 2, the electrifying sequel to 2016’s team-based hero shooter, launches as a free-to-play title on October 4th. Ahead of that, on July 12th, Twitch Rivals and Overwatch 2 joined forces and hosted the Overwatch 2 Pride Celebration, a charity Twitch Rivals event in support of The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is a non-profit organization helping and supporting the LGBTQ+ community by preventing suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth.
Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The Overwatch 2 Pride Celebration gathered 40 caring streamers competing for a total charity prizing of $250,000. While each match win during the Group Stage awarded The Trevor Project $5000, each match loss granted them $2,500. The winner of the Championship Bracket Stage donated $50,000 to the organization, while the runner-up donated $30,000, and the third-placed team donated $20,000. The winner of the Consolation Bracket Stage made a $15,000 donation to The Trevor Project, with the second-place team contributing to the cause with $12,000, and the third-place team with $10,000.
The participating teams were led by AnneMunition Cuppcaake, eskay, Fareeha “Fareeha” Andersen, Connor “Fitzyhere” Fitzpatric, Lucas “Mendo” Håkansson, SaltyPhish, and Nikola “sleepy” Andrews.
Group Stage
The Group Stage divided the teams into Groups A and B. Each group played a single round-robin of best-of-1s. All matches featured the Control game mode: Match 1 featured Nepal, Match 2 featured Illios, and Match 3 featured Lijiang Tower. After the Group Stage, all teams advanced to the Bracket Stage. However, only the top two teams from each group advanced to the Championship Bracket, while the bottom two teams advanced to the Consolation Bracket.
Due to superior positioning, map movements, and wittiness, Teams eskay and Cuppcaake, without an effort, swept Group A and secured their place in the Championship Bracket. Even though Teams AnneMunition and Fareeha made an all-out effort to take them down, they were sent to the Consolation Bracket.
In Group B, Team Fitzyhere remained uncontested as they mopped the floor with their competition. Team SaltyPhish came in close second, since they only dropped a match against Team Fitzyhere. Teams sleepy, and Mendo, which failed to keep up with the highly competitive group, only managed to advance to the Consolation Bracket.
Bracket Stage
Similar to the Group Stage, the Bracket Stage once again separated the challenging teams into two separate brackets. The victorious teams faced each other in the Championship Bracket, while teams unlucky in the first three rounds clashed in the Consolation Bracket. Each bracket, played in best-of-3s, included identical game modes and maps. The battling grounds for the first match were Colosseo / New Queen Street, while the game mode was Push. In the second round, players battled to death in Río (Paraíso) as they played Hybrid game mode. For the final match, the players entered the Circuit Royal map in their attempt to attack and defend the payload.
In the Semifinals of the Consolation Bracket, Teams Fareeha and sleepy didn’t give Teams Mendo and AnneMunition even an opportunity to fight back, winning the round decisively with a 2-0 score. For the finals, Team Fareeha spared no effort in an attempt to take down Team sleepy. However, Team sleepy proved resistant, and ultimately won the Consolation Bracket. In the Bronze Match, Team Mendo fell short in the face of Team AnneMunition and finished the tournament in last place.
Similar to the Semifinals of the Consolation Bracket, Teams eskay and Fitzyhere dominated the Champions Bracket with a clean 2-0 score. Team Fitzyhere continued their winning streak in the Finals, winning the tournament with yet another clean 2-0.
