It’s finally happened! After months of speculation and teases, we are incredibly excited to have announced The Decade Awards, a 10 year celebration of all things esports that will honor those who have served the industry the most over the past 10 years.
From games to partners, events to players, all the biggest names from the past 10 years are in the running for our biggest awards ever. The winners will be announced at a special celebration held at the Esports World Cup, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this August. You can find more details, including how to vote for your winners, on our website.
Away from our big news, this month Riot has relaxed its rules on betting sponsors in LoL and Valorant, Epic Games has won a potentially industry changing lawsuit and North America has hosted a ridiculous amount of big events.
Industry News
Faker, Ibai, H3CZ and more up for Esports Personality Of The Decade
The biggest names in esports over the last 10 years are battling it out to become the Esports Personality Of The Decade. The likes of Faker, Ibai, H3CZ and more are relying on your votes to be crowned as the most influential person in esports over the last 10 years, in what is going to be a truly life-defining crowning moment for one of these industry legends.
Riot Relaxes Betting Sponsor Rules
After years of a near total ban on betting sponsorships, Riot Games has announced plans to allow teams in the top levels of League of Legends and Valorant competition in North America and EMEA to work with such organisations. Riot will vet every deal and company that wants to get involved, and gambling logos will not be allowed on jerseys or official Riot broadcasts, but this is a major change from one of the biggest publishers out there that could open up a lot of extra revenue opportunities for teams in its ecosystems.
Epic Wins Lawsuit Against Cheater
Epic has been in the news for courtroom antics a lot in recent years, but their recent victory could set a massive precedent in the world of esports. Epic has successfully sued a player who was found to have used cheats in official Fortnite tournaments. The player in question ignored the lawsuit, which was filed late last year, and a judge has ruled in Epic’s favour, ordering the player to pay $175,000, significantly more than they won in the tournaments through cheating. Epic will donate any money it collects to charity, and has sent a clear warning to any other players thinking of cheating.
ALGS Championship To Return To Japan For Next Two Years
EA and the City of Sapporo, Japan, have announced a new deal that will see the Apex Legends Championship Series World Championship return to the city in both 2026 and 2027, following a highly successful debut in the city earlier this year. The event will run at the Daiwa House PREMIST DOME, where over 34,000 fans watched GoNext Esports take victory earlier this year. With lots of cities throwing support behind esports events, securing a major championship for the next two years seems like a very smart move by the city.
Dupreeh Announces Retirement
One of the greatest Counter-Strike players of all time, Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, has announced his retirement from pro play, with a transition into broadcast roles looking likely for the Dane. As a five time Major winner and a career spanning well over a decade, he will go down as one of the all-time greats, and announcing his retirement at the Austin Major was a fitting way to go out.
BLAST Austin Major Becomes Most Watched In History
Data from Esports Charts has revealed that the BLAST Austin CS2 Major is the most watched ever, clocking in 76.1 million hours watched, an increase of almost five million over the previous record from the Stockholm Major in 2021. While peak concurrent viewership did not break the all-time record, this achievement is impressive, especially for an event in North America which at times went late into the night for European viewers.
NAVI Joins The LEC
Ukrainian organisation NAVI has officially joined the LEC League of Legends competition, acquiring the spot formerly owned by Rouge. NAVI will debut in the competition at the start of the Summer Split in early August. With a rich, and very successful, history across other games NAVI will no doubt be looking to win championships in League of Legends, but with the level of competition in the LEC arguably at an all time high, that is not going to be an easy task.
Team BDS Announce New CEO, Upcoming Rebrand And Non-Profit Initiative
Team BDS is shaking things up ahead of the EWC. The Swiss-based org, which has active rosters in League of Legends, CoD: Warzone, Rainbow Six, and many more, has confirmed a major rebrand of the organization. The rebranding includes a new name, logo and fresh headquarters in Geneva, all set to roll out by the end of 2025. Alexandre Lopez will now assume the role of CEO, and has announced plans for a new non-profit initiative within the team that will benefit young people is hospitals and underprivileged communities.
Post Malone Set To Open The Esports World Cup
The Esports World Cup is going big when it comes to music in 2025. Post Malone will headline the EWC opening ceremony and will be joined by the likes of Alesso, Tina Guo and others in what’s shaping up to be a massive kickoff to the seven-week event. The official EWC anthem, “Til My Fingers Bleed,” will debut live at the opening ceremony on July 10 in Riyadh, and chances are you will be hearing it a lot over the next couple of months.
Competitive Results
Image Credit: BLAST
Team Vitality Crowned Major Champions After Dominant Run
Team Vitality has completed one of the most dominant eras in Counter-Strike ever with a Major victory in Austin Texas. The BLAST Austin Major featured 32 teams fighting it out and there were more than a few surprises, with paiN Gaming placing in the top four and The MongolZ reaching the grand final. However, there was little surprise when it came to the winners, as Vitality, who have won pretty much every tournament in recent months, took a relativity comfortable victory.
Paper Rex Wins First International Valorant Event
Paper Rex has finally won a major international Valorant event after twice falling at the final hurdle in previous years. The Korean roster lifted the trophy at the Valorant Masters Toronto event after beating Fnatic 3-1 in the grand final, in what was an incredibly close match. No map had more than three rounds between the two teams, and two of them went to overtime.
OpTic Texas Become Back To Back Call of Duty League Champions
OpTic Texas are the first back to back Call of Duty League champions after securing their second victory in a row at CoD Champs this month. OpTic looked pretty unstoppable, beating Atlanta Faze, Toronto Ultra and Boston Breach in the upper bracket 3-0 to secure a finals spot. Then they took down the Vancouver Surge 5-3 in the grand final to claim the trophy.
Esports World Cup Dominates July’s Schedule
In just a matter of days the 2025 Esports World Cup is set to kick off, bringing seven weeks of more esports action than you can ever watch. Things kick off with Valorant, Apex Legends, Fatal Fury, Rennsport and Dota 2 on week one, with teams trying to secure their first EWC championships of the year to climb the all important Club Championship leaderboard.
G2 Narrowly Qualify For The MSI Group Stage
It got closer than anyone expected, but G2 just about made it to the group stage of the League of Legends Mid Season Invitational. As the second seed from Europe they were forced into the Play In section of the competition, and after a crushing 3-0 loss to BiliBili Gaming were in a decider match against GAM Esports to make it to the next stage of the competition. After going 2–0 up, they looked set for a clean sweep, but GAM came back swinging in game three. With momentum totally against them, it all came down to a tense game five, which G2 managed to win cleanly in the end to book their place in the MSI bracket stage. Not the smoothest ride, but their run at MSI 2025 continues.
Team Falcons Take Home Gold In Rocket League Major
Team Falcons achieved a historic victory by defeating Dignitas 4–1 in the RLCS Raleigh Major final, becoming the first team outside Europe or North America to win a Major. Throughout the weekend, they displayed dominance, being precise, confident, and highly focused. This milestone is significant for fans in the Middle East, with this being the region’s first major RLCS trophy. It also highlights that exceptional talent in Rocket League can originate from any region.
And Finally…
Image Credits: Esports World Cup Foundation
Cristiano Ronaldo Named Esports World Cup Ambassador
With the Esports World Cup about to kick off, football legend Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as an ambassador to the event. While not completely unexpected, give he was also involved last year, this expanded partnership shows how attractive the esports space can be for sports stars, especially when there is a major event right on their doorstep.
