It’s another busy summer of esports, with the Esports World Cup taking over Paris, the Mid Season Invitational going to Korea and CoD Champs yet again delivering a stacked event in the US. With EWC now being a regular part of the calendar each year the summer really starts to get busy for the industry, with a ton of deals and announcements around the event being announced over the past month.
But even outside of the big events, July has been a busy time for the industry. New leagues have started up and performed well, some fan favourite organisations have announced their return to classic titles, and the older ones among us have been celebrating a return to the good old days.
To make sure you don’t miss any of the massive esports news this month, be sure to keep reading.
Industry News
Credit: RIOT Games
The Esports World Cup Lands In Paris
It is, of course, that time of year when the Esports World Cup kicks into action and almost every top team and player in esports graces its stage over the course of the summer. But this time things look a little different, as the event has moved from Riyadh to Paris. The last minute move provided some challenges, but the team putting on the event has managed to build an impressive set up and so far there have been no major issues. As always the action has been intense, and the French crowd have shown up in numbers to support the teams, so much so that the closing CS2 event has been moved to the 20,000 seat Accor Arena.
Faker Becomes An EWC Ambassador
In other EWC related news, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has become an ambassador for the event and the upcoming Esports Nations Cup as part of a new deal with the Esports Foundation. Faker is the first esports pro to become an ambassador, joining footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and chess player Magnus Carlsen. The deal sees him signed until 2028, and he will become one of the faces of the event as well as being a voice for esports players across the Foundation’s activities.
LoL Classic Released
Riot Games has released League of Legends Classic, a new game mode that takes the experience back more than 10 years to the version of League of Legends all us old folk love. It’s not a specific prior version of LoL but rather a classic experience based around the time of Season 3 and 4, and really does bring back the nostalgia of old school LoL. For anyone who thinks things were better back in the day, give this a try and see if that really is the case.
Conor McGregor Signs Deal with Aurora Gaming
While his return to the octagon in UFC may not have gone quite as planned, Conor McGregor did at least have some good news this month as he signed a deal with esports team Aurora Gaming. Terms of the deal have not been released, but it’s fairly safe to assume you’ll see the UFC star supporting the org and likely popping up in some content here and there. The deal should bring more eyes on the Aurora players and the games they compete in.
EAFC Trophy Renamed In Honor Of Diogo Jota
Ahead of the FC Pro World Championship, EA announced that the iconic trophy would be renamed as the Diogo Jota FC Pro World Championship Trophy. The name change is in tribute to former Liverpool football player Diogo Jota, who lost his life in a car accident last year. Jota was a keen gamer and supporter of the franchise, so now will be immortalised in its esports scene for years to come.
Karim Benzema Plays EAFC Showmatch
In other EA FC news, French football legend Karim Benzema played a showmatch at the Esports World Cup, competing against French influencers before the final. He proved that real world skills also transfer to the virtual world, taking a convincing victory and getting the fans hyped before the final took place. This now annual tradition from the EWC has proven multiple times that getting big name stars on the stage is a great way to increase interest in the esports side of things.
Perkz Unexpectedly Becomes G2 LoL Coach
In a somewhat unexpected staffing move, G2 Esports announced that it has benched veteran head coach Dylan Falco, with legendary player Luka “Perkz” Perković taking over in the role. The move came as G2 were eliminated from MSI earlier this month, with Perkz taking over team leadership for the EWC League of Legends tournament that followed. G2 would have an underwhelming performance at EWC, but given the coach change days before the tournament, that was probably to be expected.
Delta Force RISE Series Gets Underway
The first events in the European and American Delta Force RISE Series took place this month, and it appears to be doing well. With big name orgs such as FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, Fnatic and Alliance on board, the league has some solid backing, and has the potential to become a major esport over the coming years. The pacing could be sped up somewhat, but early feedback has been solid and it’s certainly worth a watch for any extraction FPS fans.
Tournament Results
Credit: Esports World Cup
FaZe Vegas Claim COD Champs 2026
FaZe Vegas claimed the Call of Duty League Championship after taking down long term rivals OpTic Texas in the grand final. The two most storied organisations in Call of Duty finally faced off in a CDL championship final, and it was FaZe who came out on top 5-2. The win prevented OpTic from claiming three back to back championships, and is the first championship for FaZe since 2021.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s International: Vitality go back-to-back
Team Vitality’s female ML:BB roster is one of the most dominant teams in all of esports, and proved that yet again this month by claiming their second EWC championship. The Indonesian roster yet again dominated the field, and got revenge on the squad that beat them at EWC 2024 in the grand final. Now they are back to back champs and show no sign of ending their dominant run.
100 Thieves And Asuna Finally Claim A Valorant Trophy
Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk has been a part of the 100 Thieves Valorant roster for essentially his entire career, joining the organisation in 2020. During that time he has come close to lifting international trophies, but always fallen short, until this month. At EWC 100 Thieves went on a hero run and took the trophy, beating local rivals and reigning world champions NRG in the final. It was a feel good moment for everyone, seeing one of the most tenured players in esports finally get the trophy he very much deserved.
Korea Wins MSI and EWC League of Legends Tournaments
Everyone knows Korean players are quite good at League of Legends, and yet again that was proven in July with two different Korean squads claiming international trophies. Hanwha Life Esports took a close 3-2 win over Bilibili Gaming at MSI to claim the trophy, before Dplus Kia took the win over local heroes Karmine Korp at the Esports World Cup in Paris. There’s always tough inter-regional competition in LoL, but right now it seems Korea is back to being a step above the rest.
Underdog RvPLegend Claims FC Pro 26 World Championship
Razvan “RvPLegend” Puiu entered the EA FC Pro World Championship as the 30th ranked player in the world, and had to start in the perilous play-in stage where only 10 of 60 competitors would advance to the main event. But he went on an impressive run that saw him play more matches than any other player on his route to the final, and eventually claim the trophy. The final was a 6-5 victory on paper, but really RvPLegend was in control the entire time, setting up some emotional scenes as the final whistle blew.
And Finally
Gentle Mates Launches A TCG
French organisation Gentle Mates has made a unique move and launched a trading card game based on moments from the organisation’s history. It’s an interesting idea, and one that seems a little out there on paper, but the response from the Gentle Mates fans has been nothing but positive and early signs are that this will be very popular. This could inspire more teams to do something similar, as trading cards seem to be the hot new topic in esports right now.
