The top team from each division held the first and second seed, followed by the next six teams, regardless of division. The stage playoffs doubled in size from 2018, expanding to eight teams, up from the four team system introduced in 2018's third stage. Teams played zero, one, or two matches per week. Each week featured three to four games on Thursday and Friday and four games on Saturday and Sunday, totaling either fourteen or sixteen games per week, up from twelve in 2018. Each stage still lasted five weeks, though the break between stages increased from one week to two weeks (except for the break between stages 2 and 3, which was four weeks due to the league's All-Star Weekend). Teams played 28 regular season games instead of 40, with the league citing players' mental health and additional chances to interact with their home cities as reasons for the change.
The season playoffs were contested in a double-elimination tournament. The top six season playoff teams were determined by the same way they were in 2018 the top two teams from each division and the next four teams, regardless of division. The season kept the four-stage format that was used in the 2018 season, though only the first three stages had playoffs, while the fourth stage's playoffs were replaced by a six-team play-in tournament to determine the final two postseason teams. The 2019 season's revised schedule format was announced on December 12, 2018. The eight teams were distributed evenly between the two Divisions, with the North American East Coast and European teams joining the Atlantic Division, and the Chinese and North American West Coast teams added to the Pacific Division. Whereas the franchising fee was estimated to be US$20 million in the inaugural season, the fee was estimated by observers to have gone as high as US$50 million for these new teams.
By September 2018, Blizzard confirmed it had signed eight additional teams based in Atlanta, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Toronto, Paris, Washington D.C., Vancouver, and Chengdu, bringing the total team count to twenty. During this season, Blizzard stated it planned to expand out the league to add six teams, ideally gaining more teams in European and Asian regions, and started meeting with potential owners in March 2018.
The Overwatch League initially launched with twelve teams in the 2018 season.
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