The fifth season of the Overwatch League is about to begin in April 2022 on an early build of Overwatch 2. Teams are now looking to build rosters.

The 2021 Overwatch League season with the Shanghai Dragons beating the Atlanta Reign. The winners have won $1.5 million in prize money as well as the Overwatch League trophy. Whereas, the runners-up have won $750,000 in prize money.

Now as the season has ended and a new season is about to start soon, teams will be busy building rosters. This brings the most difficult year for the fans i.e. the offseason “rosterpocalypse.”

As Overwatch 2 runs on a 5v5 competitive system, the team will have to adjust or downsize their rosters. Many players may also start coaching or may simply retire. As a result, many new players will enter.

Overwatch League Key Dates

Teams may begin submitting player trades for League Office review. Also, they may continue working on extending or otherwise signing their current players to standard contracts, as per Blizzard.

Teams can also extend their player contracts until October 2, after which the ‘rosterpocalypse’ officially begins.

Players whose contracts expired after the 2021 season become free agents as of October 9. By October 10, teams can start signing free agents to contracts for the 2022 season.

A minimum of five players must be signed by the teams by January 3, 2022, and a minimum of six players should be signed by March 1, 2022. Teams may have a maximum of 12 players signed to any type of contract at any time.

Players who were born on or before July 31, 2004, are eligible to sign a contract for the 2022 season.  Moreover, the minimum salary for new contracts has been increased to 50,700 USD. This is done to reflect a cost-of-living adjustment based on global inflation rates.