Prior to the merger, both championships functioned independently of one another but in basically the same way: They brought together winners of regional or national cosplay competitions into a final round, held at a ReedPop event. The Crown Championships of Cosplay took place at C2E2 since at least 2014 (see "C2E2 2014 Photos, Part 2" and "C2E2 2016 Photos, Part 1"), and the EuroCosplay Championship was held at MCM London Comic Con.
The new championship will have two categories of competition: straightforward portrayals, which will be judged on accuracy, and new designs based on a recognizable character, which will be evaluated on the basis of both design and interpretation.
Finalists will be selected at different ReedPop events throughout the year, including Florida Supercon in September, New York Comic Con in October, and Emerald City Comic Con in December (see “Fall ReedPop Shows Will Run at Reduced Capacity”). The winners of those events will participate in one final round at C2E2 2022 to select the overall winner who will travel to London for the championship.
The UK will have just one round, to be held at MCM London Comic Con in May 2022. There will be no regional competitions before that, but the finalists who were supposed to compete in the 2020 EuroCosplay Championship, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be invited to participate in this event.
The Australian finalist will be chosen at PAX Australia in October, and ReedPop will make announcements about cosplay events for other countries in the future.
