North American esports and lifestyle organisation 100 Thieves has announced a collaboration with actor Chris Hemsworth as part of a promotional campaign tied to the upcoming crime thriller Crime 101.

The collaboration was revealed on February 6th via a post on X (formerly Twitter), where 100 Thieves jokingly welcomed Hemsworth as its ‘101st member’ and unveiled a temporary visual update to its Los Angeles Compound.

According to the announcement, the partnership is connected to Crime 101, a 2026 crime thriller written and directed by Bart Layton. The film stars Hemsworth alongside Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, and others.

As part of the activation, 100 Thieves stated that it will host an in-person fan event at its Compound on February 10th. The organisation said the first 101 fans in line will receive exclusive apparel, as well as tickets to a private screening of Crime 101 ahead of its theatrical release.

The collaboration will also extend to livestreamed content. 100 Thieves Head of Studios Alex ‘Wex’ Wechsler shared on X that Hemsworth will appear in a livestream at the 100 Thieves Compound on Nadeshot’s Twitch channel.

“It’s been an honour being a part of 100 Thieves and looking forward to its new chapter as 101 Thieves,” Wex quipped. “We’re streaming with our newest thief, Chris Hemsworth, this Tuesday at the 101 Thieves compound on Nadeshot’s Twitch.”

A promotional video released alongside the announcement leaned into the organisation’s long-running ‘Thieves’ branding. In the video, 100 Thieves Founder and CEO Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag mockingly ‘recruits’ Hemsworth as the latest addition to the team, before the actor responds: “Thank you, Nadeshot, but I think you mean 101 Thieves.”

While framed humorously, the collaboration marks another example of 100 Thieves partnering with mainstream entertainment properties. The organisation has increasingly positioned its Compound and creator network as platforms for film, fashion and lifestyle activations that sit alongside its esports operations.

At the time of writing, 100 Thieves has not disclosed whether additional content or events tied to Crime 101 are planned beyond the announced fan giveaway and livestream.

One of the most iconic teams in Dota 2 has left the scene. Team Secret announced its departure after a disappointing last few years.

“Until next time, Dota 2. A lot of you have been wondering about the status of our Dota 2 division. We are still interested in compelling opportunities, but remain passive in seeking a return to the scene,” Team Secret tweeted on X (formerly Twitter).

Team Secret was an esports organisation born to compete in Dota 2 specifically. Kuro Salehi ‘KuroKy‘ Takhasomi and Johan ‘n0tail‘ Sundstein set out to make their own team after their current teams, Natus Vincere and Fnatic, didn’t perform as expected at The International 2014.

The OG team featured KuroKy, n0tail, Clement ‘Puppey‘ Ivanov, Gustav ‘s4’ Magnusson and Tal ‘Fly’ Aizik, a stacked squad with veterans of the scene. It led to an impressive 2014-2015 season, but roster changes saw that come to a surprising halt soon after.

Since then, it seems Team Secret has been chasing another International win, but nothing has worked. Puppey continued to switch the roster around for years, but fans were consistently disappointed. Earlier this month, Puppey left Team Secret after 11 years to coach for PARIVISION, hinting at the end of an era.

A recent roster iteration included:

It was a bittersweet announcement from Team Secret on February 7th. While it never feels good to see legends leave a scene, many fans pointed out the organisation’s struggles throughout the past few years. Still, remembering the highlights of Team Secret’s Dota 2 run has left many esports fans with heartfelt memories.

Team Secret was not one of the teams to qualify for ESL One Birmingham 2026. But qualifying team Aurora Gaming called Team Secret ‘legends,’ asking them to return to the scene, and fellow qualifiers OG Esports, left a similarly sad response to the tweet.

NAVI and GIANTX have been eliminated from VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026 after losing elimination matches against Team Heretics and Team Liquid, respectively.

As a result, NAVI and GIANTX will miss out on Masters Santiago, while their opponents can still qualify for the first global VCT event of the year through the lower bracket.

The day kicked off with a rematch betweenTeam Heretics and NAVI, which had previously faced off in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals. While the first encounter concluded in a 2-1 victory for NAVI, Team Heretics delivered a dominant 2-0 sweep this time around.

NAVI had a solid start on Team Heretics’ map pick, Haven. However, from round four onward, the team struggled to clear the enemy Cypher’s info-gathering utility, allowing Team Heretics to stack sites and achieve a strong 8-4 defensive half. This momentum carried over into the second half, resulting in a 13-5 victory for the Spanish organisation.

Team Heretics’ newest roster member, Berkcan ‘ComeBack’ Şentürk, delivered a massive performance on Haven with a kill-death ratio (KDA) of 29/12/5 and a 455 average combat score.

For its Breeze debut at Kickoff, Team Heretics played a defence-favouring Sage/Chamber agent combination, awarding the team with another 8-4 half. Off the back of an attack pistol in the second half, Team Heretics took Breeze 13-4.

The second series of the day saw last year’s EMEA Stage 2 finalists, Team Liquid and GIANTX, fight for survival in the lower bracket. Just like last year, Team Liquid emerged victorious from the encounter (2-1).

Team Liquid quickly took control of its map pick, Breeze, thanks to a thrifty win in the second round. With excellent attack-side calling from the roster’s in-game leader (IGL) Ayaz ‘nAts’ Akhmetshin, Team Liquid secured a 9-3 half, which later converted into a 13-4 victory.

Pearl began with a ten-round winning streak for GIANTX, while Team Liquid’s mid-heavy attack side calling found little success. After an 11-1 half and another pistol round win, it was only a matter of time until GIANTX evened out the match score (13-6).

The final showdown took place on Bind, where both teams excelled on the defensive side. Despite two pistol-round wins, GIANTX had to fight back from a 4-8 halftime deficit to force overtime. Meanwhile, Team Liquid gained a lot of value from its Gekko pick on both sides and ultimately denied an enemy comeback at 16-14.

On February 12th at 5 PM BST, Team Liquid will continue its lower bracket run at VCT EMEA Kickoff, facing off against Team Heretics. Fans can tune into the elimination match via the league’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.

In just a few weeks, Highguard has gained plenty of fans and detractors for various reasons. Developed by Wildlight Entertainment and free to play on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC since January 26, the 3v3 PvP free-to-play raid shooter has players become ‘wardens’ in order to loot and shoot until one team wins a match.

It is a fun time, but fans have been vocal in their dissatisfaction with Highguard. This includes poor art design in some maps, boring weapons, and limited PC graphics options. Now Episode 2, the game’s first big update, has been released. Here are five more things Highguard can improve on.

Along with many players’ experiences, I’ve had moments when joining a match failed, or when we got in-game, the matchmaking left a lot to be desired. Some have slower connections, resulting in disconnects, or you’re left waiting up to 10 minutes for another team to be found.

This is a straightforward request: Highguard needs some big improvements in how it finds matches and matches players with their skill base, internet speeds, and more. Considering some developers come from Respawn Entertainment, known for the Titanfall games, there’s no excuse as to why matchmaking feels below-par in Highguard.

Collecting Vesper, Highguard’s in-game currency, feels like a chore. Before you consider ways of defeating the opposing team, you’re thinking about where Vesper is in order to buy ammo, armour, and more. It gets to the point where Highguard feels like a farming simulator, instead of an online PvP raid shooter.

A main improvement would be to raise the amount of Vesper collected – this way, players can stock up quicker without it feeling like a chore, in a similar vein to collecting gold in Fortnite. Highguard is all about defeating the other team in a variety of ways across several maps – it’s not about farming, and it shouldn’t be. If this one improvement is made, it would result in a more enjoyable game overall.

It’s a strange omission that you can’t look back on your previous playthrough stats. With eight wardens to choose from, each with their unique abilities, as well as the different weapons to use, it would be a big help if you could see who you’re using the most, as well as the amount of loot and ammo we’re collecting and spending so far.

It would be a great way to build on your skills, giving you a clear structure for which wardens and weapons are working and which you should leave well alone. This could also be great for when matchmaking with other players, helping the game itself when setting up a match.

Since Highguard’s launch on January 26, players could only join in 3v3 matches. It felt too small given the size of the available maps. On February 2, Wildlight raised this to 5v5, which has made plenty of matches more varied and fun, but the developers can go even further.

12v12 matches could ramp up the action and excitement of what Highguard brings. We’ve seen Dota 2 and others do similar, and they’ve benefited hugely. The sheer scope of Rivermark and Summit can certainly hold 24 players at once. While this may terrify Wildlight, considering the poor matchmaking and disconnects, raising the player amount even more could build on Highguard’s fun niche even more. 

In 2026, players want to follow along with a story that can make them more invested in what they’re playing. Free-to-play games like Fortnite and PUBG have compelling narratives that have opened the door for some unique collabs, like The Simpsons and South Park. Even Call of Duty: Warzone has a simple story that players keep up with.

But in Highguard, there’s nothing. You know the basics of what you need to do in every match, which is to play as a warden and secure your stronghold with a team. It would be great to establish several story beats that define who these wardens are and what the landscape is all about.

Although we haven’t reached a month with Highguard being available, there’s a lot of promise. The game is fun to play, with great weapons and huge maps that bring plenty of variety to the shooter. But there’s a lot that desperately needs another look, from the Vesper farming, the poor matchmaking, and a lack of narrative.

In hindsight, it’s clear that Highguard had a deadline to meet, and regardless of where the team at Wildlight was, the game was going to be out on January 26, no matter what. In the sea of free-to-play games, Highguard has a rare niche where players want it to be good. Hopefully, we’ll see some of the above improvements sooner, rather than later.

The Gran Turismo World Series has announced that the opening round of the 2026 season will take place in Abu Dhabi.

Taking place at the Space42 Arena, 24 drivers will compete in the Nations Cup and the Manufacturers Cup to begin the four-round championship running throughout the year.

The first event taking place in Abu Dhabi coincides with the addition of the Yas Marina Circuit as part of Gran Turismo 7’s recent Spec III update. The Manufacturers Cup will see drivers represent the highest-ranked manufacturers from online qualifiers alongside Toyota and Mazda, the championship’s official partners.

One driver from each manufacturer will compete in each race. For round one, the top-ranked competitors from the Americas will compete for a chance to earn World Series Points.

The Nations Cup involves the top three players from 2025’s Gran Turismo World Series points standings, and the nine fastest drivers from this year’s online qualifiers. Four drivers from EMEA will earn a place, along with two from Central and South America. North America, Asia, and Oceania will have one driver representing their respective region.

Unlike other sim racing titles, the Gran Turismo World Series offers drivers opportunities to represent some of the largest car manufacturers in the world. Last year’s event saw Spanish driver José Serrano lift the Nations Cup, while Porsche won the Manufacturers Cup. Notably, the World Series doesn’t offer a monetary prize pool.

Launched in 2018, the event has seen some of its drivers transfer their skills into real-world motorsport. 2018’s Nations Cup champion Igor Fraga scored his first victory in the Japanese single-seater series, Super Formula.

Fraga isn’t the only sim racer to move from the virtual racetrack to the real thing. March 2025 saw four-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen launch his own racing team, recruiting British sim racer Chris Lulham as one of the team’s three drivers.

Bilibili Gaming player Zhuo ‘Knight‘ Ding has been hospitalised following the organisation’s match against Dragon Ranger Gaming during VCT China Kickoff 2026.

According to the official announcement, the player experienced “a sudden episode of supraventricular tachycardia, with an abnormally high heart rate” backstage and was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.

“After today’s matches concluded, player Knight suddenly experienced a rapid onset of physical discomfort in the locker room, with an abnormally elevated heart rate,” Bilibili Gaming said via a translated statement on its official Weibo handle.

The Chinese organisation also shared that Knight’s family has been informed regarding his condition. In addition to this, dedicated personnel will be assigned to closely monitor his treatment and assist with recovery through necessary medical support.

“The health of our players has always been the club’s top priority. We will strictly follow medical guidance, cooperate fully with all subsequent recovery work, and provide timely updates on Knight’s recovery progress. Here, we also sincerely thank everyone for their concern and care for Knight, and wish him a speedy recovery,” the organisation added.

Bilibili Gaming will return to the stage on February 8th to play its VALORANT Masters Santiago qualification match against the loser of the Upper Final. At the moment, it’s unclear whether Knight will compete in the upcoming series; however, an update from Bilibili Gaming is likely soon.

Editor’s Note: The quotes above have been translated from Chinese; therefore, there may be slight variations.

VCT China will be sending three teams to VALORANT Masters Santiago, with the first slot being decided on February 7th. The Upper Final will see All Gamers and Xi Lai Gaming battle for the region’s first seed, while the losing side will still get two additional chances at the qualification.

As mentioned above, Bilibili Gaming has reached the Middle Final, which will determine the second Chinese team heading to the first international VCT event of 2026. The final organisation representing China on the global stage will be confirmed with the Lower Final on February 9th. 

Fans will be able to catch all the action live on VCT China’s official Bilibili, Twitch and YouTube channels.

The 2026 edition of the EA Sports FC Pro World Championship will see players compete for a share of the event’s $1.5m (~£1.1m) prize pool.

Taking place from July 22nd to 26th as part of the Esports World Cup, the season-ending event for the EA Sports FC esports circuit will crown the EA Sports FC 26 world champion.

Unveiled on February 6th, this year’s prize pool is an increase of $500,000 (~£367,430) from last year’s event, which also featured as part of the Esports World Cup. This is due to the Esports World Cup Foundation‘s existing collaboration with Electronic Arts (EA).

A total of 36 players will earn qualification for the tournament through the FC Pro Partner Leagues and the World Championship Play-Ins. Two players earn a place at the main event through the partner leagues, while another eight can qualify through the FC Pro Open circuit.

Players compete across six rounds of best-of-one matches, with the top 24 advancing to the playoffs. The bottom 12 after six rounds are eliminated.

The playoffs see the remaining players compete in a single-elimination, best-of-one bracket to determine the eventual champion.

Throughout 2025 and the beginning of 2026, the EA FC esports scene has continued showing signs of growth, with several esports organisations signing players to compete in regional and international tournaments.

On February 1st, Team Falcons’ Anders ‘Vejrgang‘ Vejrgang won the FC Pro Open, becoming the first EA Sports FC players to win over $1m in prize money. As a result of securing the victory, Vejrgang is among the eight players who have already secured a place at the World Championship.

In addition to increasing prize pools, viewing figures continue to climb. The FC Pro Open became the sixth most-watched EA FC esports event in history, peaking at 219,666 viewers.