Rules
## Introduction
The osu! Beatmapping World Championship (o!bwc) is a global beatmapping contest that brings together beatmappers from across the world to showcase their creativity, expertise, and passion for mapping. Teams represent their home country and compete to make it out of the qualifiers and survive the Clash rounds.
## Contest Format
o!bwc consists of a Qualifier round followed by multiple Clash rounds.
Qualifier round is ranking-based. If multiple teams from one country register, only the highest-ranked team from that country qualifies — even if lower-ranked same-country teams place within the top 16, they are eliminated and the slot passes down to the next country without a qualified team. Seeding for the Round of 16 is decided by qualifier ranking.
Clash rounds are tight-time head-to-head matches between two teams on a single-elimination bracket; only one team advances each round. A ban-pick phase at the start of each Clash round adds a strategic element.
## Country and Team
- Mappers register through the official form. Each team has 4–6 members, one of whom is the captain.
- The captain organizes the team, submits the beatmap, and communicates with the hosts.
- All team members must share the same country flag.
- At minimum the captain must join the Discord server and keep up with updates.
## Beatmapping and Submission
- osu! game mode only. The captain submits on behalf of the team.
- Contributions must be declared (e.g. a list of the sections mapped by each member). Members with insufficient contribution may be ineligible for awards or disqualified; contributions should be reasonably distributed.
- Everyone must participate in the Qualifier. During Clash rounds only one absence per round is allowed, and each member may be absent at most once in the whole contest.
- Submissions must be an .osz exported from the in-game editor, submitted at the designated site, and comply with the Ranking Criteria where applicable.
- Submissions must remain anonymous and unpublished until results are revealed; do not share your submission beyond your team.
- Custom hitsounds and custom combo colours are allowed. Backgrounds, videos, and storyboards are not. Do not modify metadata (Artist, Title, Tags) in the provided template.
## Judging
Judging comments are mandatory, and submissions are anonymous to judges. There are two judging panels — one for the Qualifier and one for the Clash rounds.
Qualifier criteria: Expertise (45%), Creativity (45%), Judge's Impression (10%). Final scores are standardized across judges so each judge's scale is normalized before summing — see the [formula page](/2026/qualifier/formula) for the exact, reproducible calculation.
Clash rounds are decided by a voting system: each judge casts one vote per matchup for exactly one entry, and the team with the majority advances.
## Song Selection
The songs and templates to map are announced at the beginning of each round on the Discord server.
## Prizes and Awards
Contest points, profile badges, and osu!supporter or cash prizes may be awarded to top teams after the contest concludes, depending on sponsorship and approval.
## Reporting
You can report concerning behaviour or organizational issues at tcomm.hivie.tn/reports/create.