After the madness that was August and the Decade Awards, September has seen the team preparing for a big Q4. However, that doesn’t mean it has been a quiet month throughout the industry, in fact, quite the opposite is true.
Some of the most recognisable orgs in the world have found themselves with new owners, major changes are coming to the North American League of Legends scene once again and new world champions have been crowned in multiple games.
It has been quite the historic month across the industry, but to make sure you don’t miss anything you can find all the major stories from the month below.
Industry News
Credit: LoLEsports
The LTA Experiment Is Over
The LTA League of Legends competition in the Americas is no more, with the cross region league being disbanded after just one year of operation. The competition that sought to bring together the top level of South American and North American LoL competition has one, but after a year of experimentation, Riot has decided to return to the old leagues of the CBLOL and LCS from 2026.
DreamHack Heads To Birmingham In 2026
EFG has announced a major esports celebration event will take place in Birmingham, England, in 2026. The festival will feature the first DreamHack event to run in the UK for many years, as well as ESL One Birmingham, one of the most popular Dota 2 tournaments ever. The event will run in late March, and is expected to host multiple top level tournaments across the weekend.
Riot To Support 22 2XKO Tournaments Before End Of 2025
Riot Games has announced plans to financially support 22 different 2XKO tournaments before the end of the year. Riot’s first fighting game is set to enter early access in the coming days, with the first tournaments kicking off shortly after. The 22 selected tournaments are a mix of online and in person events around the world, with Riot adding an extra $2500 to each event’s prize pool. While bigger tournaments will likely be seen next year, this is a great start to the pro scene for the game.
FaZe Relocates CDL Team To Vegas
FaZe has announced a change to its Call of Duty League team, relocating from Atlanta to Las Vegas. The FaZe Vegas team will compete in the CDL from the start of the 2026 season, with a new roster featuring new signings Jordan “Abuzah” François and Jovan “04” Rodriguez. The move comes after the Vegas franchise spot was vacated by Team Falcons, who have relocated to the organisation’s home city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Team Vitality Partners With PSG
A partnership that just makes sense in all areas has finally happened, with Team Vitality signing a deal with French football club Paris Saint-Germain. The agreement will see Vitality’s EAFC roster renamed to PSG.Vitality for the 2026 season, with French players Ilian Bouchi and Brice Masson being a part of the newly named team.
Quinn Retires From Pro Dota
One of the more controversial Dota 2 pro players, Quinn “Quinn” Callahan, has announced his retirement from pro play. While known as one of the more outspoken pro players, especially in matchmaking games, Quinn has long been one of the best players in the world for many years. His retirement comes after his team, Gaimin Gladiators, was unable to compete at The International thanks to some unexplained issues between the organisation and the players, resulting in an underwhelming end to a storied career for Quinn.
Both OG And Astralis Have New Owners
Two of the biggest esports orgs in the world have been sold this month. Astralis, which was home to one of the most dominant Counter-Strike teams ever, has been sold to Fusion Esports Group, an investment group headlined by Astralis co-founder Jakob Lund Kristensen and former Ninjas in Pyjamas COO Jonas Gundersen. Meanwhile, OG Esports, the two time TI winning org, has been sold to The Chiliz Group, with the crypto based company taking a 51% stake.
The International Returns To China In 2026
The International Dota 2 tournament will return to China for the first time since 2019, with the 15th iteration of the competition heading to Shanghai in August 2026. While details are somewhat thin on the ground, a return to August for TI sees it head back to its more traditional summer time slot, rather than the Autumnal tournament we have had in recent years, a move that has been welcomed by many fans.
Competitive Results
Credit: BLAST/Stephanie Lindgren
FlyQuest Win The LTA
With the league going away in 2026, FlyQuest will always have the honour of being the only LTA champions having beaten Vivo Keyd Stars in the 2025 LTA Championship final. The match was a somewhat underwhelming end to the LTA, with FlyQuest taking a fairly simple 3-1 victory to become champions. Now they will return to the LCS for 2026 to try and defend their LCS crown, which they won last year.
G2 Claim 17th LEC Title
G2 have, unsurprisingly, won the LEC once again, marking their 17th championship title. G2 took down Movistar KOI 3-0 in the final, with the Spanish org having massive backing at the event which was held in Spain. Now G2 will head to Worlds as the EMEA top seed, and could perform well given their recent run of form.
Team Falcons Win The International 14
Team Falcons has won the Dota 2 International in Hamburg Germany. The win is the first time Falcons have lifted the trophy, and they did so after an epic 3-2 victory over Chinese side Xtreme Gaming. The event was one of the best Internationals in years, with back and forth games, major upsets and a great crowd, showing what The International can be when at its best.
NRG Wins RLCS Worlds
While Team Falcons claimed victory at TI, they fell just short at the Rocket League World Championship, losing 4-1 to NRG in the grand final. NRG are now the Rocket League world champions, solidifying the North American squad as one of the strongest to have ever played the game. While they had a number of close games throughout the tournament, they always managed to come out on top when it mattered most.
G2 Wins BLAST Open London
Counter-Strike returned to Wembley last month, with G2 Esports taking the win at the BLAST Open London event. G2 came back from 2-1 down to beat Team Vitality 3-2 in the grand final, a surprising result given each team’s fortunes throughout the year. Vitality have been considered one of the best teams in the world, while G2 have underperformed in 2025 so far. But this result however has somewhat changed the top level of the CS scene, making for an incredibly exciting end to the year for fans.
And Finally…
Aurora Sign An 8 Year Old CS2 Player
Youngsters making a name for themselves in the world of esports is nothing new, but new Aurora Gaming signing Adil “ShaLun” Sovetov is a little younger than most at just eight years old. Sovetov is a Counter-strike player who already has two and a half years of play under his belt, and has now been signed to the Aurora training program, where he will receive guidance from the org and its players as he progresses through his young life. Certainly a name to keep an eye on for the future.
