September has been a historic month. Multiple titles have broken their own viewership records, teams have set unthinkable win streaks and we welcomed a new partner into the Esports Awards family.
Thunderpick has joined us as a presenting partner for the next year, which means we can plan even more exciting things for our big event which is now just a matter of weeks away. There’s still plenty of time to vote for the people you want to see walk away with our iconic awards in Miami, so head over to our website to make sure your vote is counted.
To make sure you know everything you could possibly need to know in order to make an informed vote, be sure to keep reading as we have compiled all the biggest stories from the past month of esports below.
Industry News
Thunderpick Joins The Esports Awards Family
We are pleased to welcome Thunderpick as the presenting partner of the Esports Awards Presented by Thunderpick. Joining us for the next 12 months, Thunderpick becomes the Presenting Partner and Official iGaming Partner of the awards, and will present the Esports Play of the Month, Esports Play of the Year, and Streamer of the Year awards. Across the year they will also support our content such as Esports Play of the Month and the Origins Podcast. We can’t wait to show you what we, and our friends at Thunderpick have in store for the Awards, which are now just a matter of weeks away.
RLCS World Championship Breaks Records
The Rocket League RLCS World Championship 2026 broke viewership records for the title this month, smashing the previous record. This year’s event reached a peak of 722,347 concurrent viewers according to Esports Charts, beating out the previous record from the Boston Major earlier this year at 624,316. That makes the world championship the most watched event in RLCS history, showing just how much the game has grown over the past couple of years.
CS Major Returns To China in 2027
Perfect World has announced that it will host the second Counter-Strike 2 Major of 2027 in Shanghai next November and December. It will be the first Major to be hosted in China since the very successful 2024 Shanghai Major, with local fans already showing excitement to get their hands on tickets. This announcement means there will likely be a two year gap between the last Major hosted in Europe, IEM Cologne 2026, and the first 2028 Major, if it does return to Europe.
Pokémon Almost Doubles Highest Ever Esports Viewership
The Pokémon World Championship may have taken place in August, but in September we got a look at the viewing figures and they make for some impressive reading. Data from Esports Charts shows that this year the event peaked at 215,668 concurrent viewers, the most for any Pokémon esports event ever, beating the previous record by almost 100,000.
LEC Salary Cap Drops
The LEC has dropped its salary cap from €2 million to €1.65 million, signaling a shift in how players can expect to be paid going forward. While not strictly a salary cap as other sports operate, the Sporting Financial Regulations stipulate the minimum and maximum a team may spend on its five most expensive players. Previously the limit was around €2 million, but for 2027 that number will drop to €1.65 million and Riot has suggested it may look to lower that further in the future.
Complexity Ceases Operations
This month, legendary organisation Complexity officially ceased operations, with founder Jason Lake leaving the brand for the first time in 23 years. Lake previously purchased the brand back from GameSquare Holdings, but after failing to find a viable path forward chose to wind down the org last year. Now the rights to the Complexity name have reverted back to GameSquare, ending the life of one of the most recognisable names in esports.
Topson Returns To OG Dota
Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen, two time TI winner with OG Esports, has returned to the organisation that introduced him to the pro scene. After some time away from pro Dota, Topson returned as a last minute stand-in for LGD Gaming at The International and managed a respectable 9th-13th, but has now joined OG as a full time player for the upcoming season. The team is yet to play at a major event, but should be seen as a contender going forward.
Tournament Results
Credit: RIOT GAMES/LEC
G2 Claim 20th LEC Title
In news that should surprise no one, G2 Esports has once again lifted the LEC title, this time beating Movistar KOI 3-0 in the grand final. This marks the 20th LEC title G2 has won, missing out on just eight possible titles since the organization joined the league. That kind of domination is essentially unheard of! Now G2 moves onto Worlds, which will take place in the USA this October and November.
Team Falcons Win RLCS World Championship
Team Falcons won its first Rocket League World Championship this month, with the team claiming its second major trophy in as many months after victory at EWC in August. Falcons took down Spacestation Gaming in the grand final in a dominant 4-0 performance, which capped off one of the greatest runs of all time. Falcons looked a class above the competition and certainly deserved the win.
Vitality Back To Winning CS Trophies At StarLadder
Team Vitality’s Counter-Strike roster is back to winning ways after claiming victory at the StarLadder StarSeries Fall event. The win is the first in a while for the team that has dominated much of the year, but has underperformed for the past couple of months, with the team missing out on the top four at EWC and failing to make the final at the BLAST Fall Open. Now with their hands on silverware again, it would not be a surprise to see them dominate the scene as they have done for months.
Egor “SwizzY” Luciko and Wilmer “Pixie” Juriander Become Fortnite World Champions
The Fortnite Champion Series 2026 Global Championship wrapped up the competitive season in style, with a massive LAN event in Antwerp, Belgium. In the end it was the duo of Egor “SwizzY” Luciko and Wilmer “Pixie” Juriander who took the first place prize and $400,000, beating out rival duos Oltean “shxrk” Ștefan & Tin “t3eny” Popovic and Danila “Malibuca” Iakovenko & Taylor-Petrik “vic0” Gatschelhofer by just two and four points respectively. It really did all come down to the very last moments of the very last game, making for one of the most entertaining tournaments in Fortnite history.
Yandex Win First Dota LAN Of The Season
After The International concluded in August, Dota 2 has had a brief off season with a lot of roster changes taking place. The first real chance to get to see some of the top teams in action was at PGL Wallachia Season 9, with Team Yandex coming out on top with a new look roster. The team added former TI winner Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf after he left Team Falcons, and looked stronger than ever, beating NAVI 3-0 in the grand final.
Blizzcon Returns In Style
Blizzcon, the big celebration event of all things Blizzard, returned for the first time in a while this month and esports was back on the menu. The biggest event was the 2026 Overwatch World Cup, where South Korea took down Saudi Arabia to become champions, while Team Liquid took victory in the World of Warcraft Mythic Dungeon International. Hearthstone also returned with some competitive action that saw OTGxhho defeat XiaoT to become world champion.
And Finally
Valorant’s Viper Is A Balenciaga Ambassador
Luxury fashion brand Balenciaga has signed a deal with Riot Games that sees Valorant agent Viper become the first ever digital Balenciaga digital brand ambassador. As part of the deal a co-branded cafe will be open in Shanghai to tie in with Valorant Champions, which is ongoing in the city right now. It’s safe to say this is a collaboration that fits well, with Viper being exactly the type of character to rock some Balenciaga gear.
