Krafton has published a detailed breakdown of its previously announced 2026 roadmap for PUBG esports, which brings more matches and increased prize pools to the battle royale competitive scene.

From the PUBG Global Series (PGS) in March to the PUBG Global Championships (PGC) in December, here is everything fans can expect from the game’s esports scene this year.

According to Krafton’s blog post, the PUBG esports circuit will operate on a season-based structure. There will be four PGS’s in total, with three series in each one, offering points and qualification for major events such as the PGC.

The circuits will take place in March, May, August and October. Between them are the Regional Series events, taking place in April and September. These are region-specific tournaments that let teams earn spots in upcoming PGS events and also serve as direct qualifications to PGC.

Scrims and Regional Cups will also run throughout the year, from February to October, 2026. Regional Scrims are a direct pathway to Regional Cups, which also serve as qualifiers for the Regional Series.

There will be three global events this year. The PUBG Nations Cup in June will be an international tournament where teams band together to represent their country as opposed to an organisation. PUBG will also feature in the Esports World Cup 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on July. The circuit will then conclude in December with its crowning event, the PGC.

Every PUBG Global Series (PGS) will feature 24 teams, which comprises 12 global partner teams and 12 other teams from the Regional Series. The first half of the circuit will invite regional teams, while the second half will feature the best-performing teams from the first half.

The three series within a PGS will run over the span of three weeks (one each week), where each series performance carries forward to the following week and the Final.

All teams start from zero in the first series, playing to improve their standings. The second week will seed teams based on the previous week’s performance, offering another chance to climb the rankings. The third week will feature the series Final, where a Circuit Champion will be crowned for the highest-ranked team.

PGS 2026 features a $2m (~£1.46m) prize pool across all four PGS splits. Prizes will also be distributed in the weekly series, with the first two series awarding $100,000 (~£73,140) each, and the Final giving away $300,000 (~£219,420) in prize pool funds.

The PUBG Global Championships (PGC) is the coveted international crowning event of the season, where 32 of the top teams throughout the year compete to be crowned champion.

Out of the 32 teams competing, eight will be filled by the top teams in the PGS Point standings, while the other 24 teams will be decided through the Regional Series.

The competition will feature a tiered seeding and stage structure, where higher-performing teams will be placed in more favourable starting positions. In the end, 16 teams will advance to the Grand Finals in a race to claim the 2026 Championship title.

Krafton also revealed several key ecosystem changes to the PUBG esports ecosystem for 2026.

Partnered teams will receive additional support this season, with over $1m (~£732,700) in annual support. Additionally, Region Cup prize pools have been adjusted to approximately $130,000 (~£95,000) in total.

Krafton stated that the increased prize pools and support ‘aren’t one-time policies’ exclusive to 2026, and are part of its plan to further grow the esports scene sustainably over time.

New features are also coming to improve the fan experience. There will be revamped Pick’em Challenge events, which allow players to earn in-game rewards for successful predictions. Additionally, Krafton will introduce a new in-game esports fantasy league, alongside an esports pass for players to unlock rewards.

Esports tournament organiser BLAST has revealed the 12 Counter-Strike teams that have accepted invitations for the upcoming BLAST Open Rotterdam event.

Taking place from March 27th to 29th at Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena, the 12 teams join four that earned a place through regional qualifiers.

Unveiled on February 9th, all of the top 12 teams from January’s Valve Regional Standings (VRS) have accepted an invitation to compete at the Tier 1 tournament. As a result, BLAST Open London champions G2 Esports narrowly missed out on an invitation due to placing 13th in the global standings.

IEM Krakow winner Team Vitality has another opportunity to add an eleventh trophy to its ever-expanding collection, while runner-up, FURIA, looks to avenge its loss with another deep run.

The full list of teams competing at BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 is as follows:

For the majority of teams attending the event, BLAST Open Rotterdam takes place three days after the ESL Pro League Season 23 Finals, taking place from March 13th to 15th at Stockholm’s Annexet.

The 16-team event gets underway with the Group Stage taking place from March 18th to 23rd at BLAST’s Copenhagen studios. Teams are split into two groups of eight, with the top three teams from each advancing to the playoffs.

Winners of the Group Stage begin the playoffs in the semi-finals, while the runners-up start the single-elimination bracket in the quarter-finals as the high seed. The low seed also secures a place in the quarter-finals as the low seed.

Throughout the Group Stage, quarter-finals, and semi-finals, teams will compete in best-of-threes until the Grand Final, where a best-of-five will determine the eventual champion.

2026 is a big year for the Fighting Game Community with all the titles releasing, and it promises to be a decisive year for Tekken 8. While it launched relatively well, Tekken 8 had problems with being too heavily skewed to aggression and lacking defensive options. 

This only got worse as the game continued to chug on, but Bandai Namco has revealed its plans for Tekken 8 Season 3. Coming with the intention to put Tekken back on track, it has been billed as ‘back to basics’. 

The changes have been listed in detail in a Tekken 8 Season 3 roadmap overview in the news section of the game’s website, and it seems largely positive. Still, many pros and influential players have been vocal about Tekken 8’s shortcomings, so what has been the reaction to Season 3’s planned changes?

Before getting into players’ reactions, it’s important to understand what’s coming to the game. Of course, there will be a Tekken 8 Season 3 pass, which adds Kunimistu, Bob, Roger Jr., and a character for the winter that is yet to be added. 

A feedback portal has been provided to ensure the developers are listening to the community, and it’s clear that Bandai Namco has its ear to the ground when it comes to Tekken after the mess of Season 2. The Tekken 8 Season 3 patch notes should reflect this.

With that aside, what do the pros and influential players, those who know the game most intimately, think of the patch notes, and do they think it’s enough to get Tekken 8 back on track?

Not all pros are particularly vocal about the Tekken, nor do all of them stream. A few have taken to YouTube to give their thoughts on both the trailer and roadmap, and we will be looking at the following:

Lil Majin had perhaps the most subdued reaction to the Season 3 announcement, meeting it all with scepticism. He didn’t seem all that bothered about the new Tekken 8 Season 3 characters, other than Kunimistu, who he said he’d rather not have. Lil Majin also seemed unswayed by the ‘back to basics’ marketing, stating that, while there were new moves in the trailer, a lot of what was shown is already in the game.

He reiterated constantly that he wouldn’t formulate a full opinion until the patch notes and the balance update on March 17. This is likely because Season 2 went against what many thought they would get, so Lil Majin’s scepticism is understandable. 

PhiDX’s reaction was very different to Lil Majin’s. He was very excited about the new characters and stated that the ‘back to basics’ branding was good marketing and that he was hopeful. He also stated that Tekken 8 had lied before, with Season 2 not adding defensive options as promised. Still, he was excited about the intention behind Tekken 8 Season 3 balance and how Bandai is clearly hearing the community.

When analysing the roadmap, he praised the intention to make a character’s strengths and weaknesses more evident. While PhiDX believed that Tekken 8 wouldn’t remove Heat, the core tenets of the balance patch for Season 3 seemed to go over well with him, as did the changes to the ranked system, particularly the bonuses for rematch and revenge victories, which encourage Bo3 matches.

The scepticism came when analysing the moves seen in the trailer. PhiDX mentioned Twitter’s initial reaction being that Tekken 8 is going in the wrong direction based on these moves. Anna and Asuka seemingly have nerfs, and he talked about fear of how Season 3 would deal with ‘stance-slop’, mentioning Lidia and Victor. Still, the overall consensus from PhiDX is that he is cautiously optimistic about the Tekken 8 Season 3 changes.

K-Wiss spoke about the Tekken 8 feedback portal and how it will likely be a better alternative to the Twitter system currently in use. He also spoke on the changes to the ranked system and how, in Season 2, the system is extremely harsh to players at God of Destruction. He said that the rematch encouragement in Season 3 is a good idea, and that he hopes the new season can also help with rank inflation.

He also spoke about how the matchmaking logic improvements are a blessing, as the current prowess system means that it’s difficult to take a secondary character into ranked, especially with wait times. The system now matches players based on their currently selected character, not their main character, making matchmaking for secondary characters easier, especially for higher-level players.

Overall, K-Wiss stated he is a big fan of what is being said, but isn’t as much of a fan of what is being shown. Having analysed the moves in the trailer, he’s not entirely convinced that Tekken 8 Season 3 is actually going back to basics, citing the defence patch that never was in Season 2. 

TheMainManSwe is a very high-level player with one of the largest audiences in Tekken and has proved equal parts knowledgeable and comedically salty. He stated that he would use the feedback portal, and that it could be a very useful tool, joking that he would send a lot of messages about Hwoarang.

He stated that changes to the Rank System are sorely needed. While he believed the rank inflation issue isn’t allowing casuals to make it to Tekken King, stating that casuals aren’t playing the game anymore, he did speak on the harshness of God of Destruction rank and above. He stated that no one has reached the highest rank yet and that only pros can realistically climb due to the flaws and harshness of the system at the highest level, while there’s handholding not much lower down.

TheMainMan also spoke on how, despite the theme being ‘refine’, he would like some excitement from new moves as part of the new season. He agreed with the overall philosophy for Tekken 8 Season 3 balance, especially with the mention of character-specific power-up mechanics (installs) and the Heat system. 

Ultimately, his overall thoughts align with K-Wiss’s, stating that the Tekken 8 Season 3 changes sound good on paper, but could be anything in practice after the ‘disaster’ that was Season 2.

Overall, the consensus of the Tekken 8 Season 3 roadmap is positive, but with the patch not coming until March, scepticism is rife after the mess of Season 2. Theoretically, the changes are good on paper, but the Tekken community has been burned before with false promises, and while many are hopeful this will put the game back on track, that isn’t a given.

Still, there is some hope that this will be a turning point, given that Tekken 8 has acknowledged the complaints and is seemingly on an apology tour for Season 2. Not all pros have been as analytical and vocal about Tekken news, although one of the game’s greats, Knee, has stated that Tekken 8 is simply not fun. Hopefully, Season 3 can change that.

With the conclusion of VCT China Kickoff 2026, All Gamers, XLG Esports and EDward Gaming (EDG) have qualified for VALORANT Masters Santiago.

From February 28th to March 15th, the Chinese representatives will face eight yet-to-be-determined teams from EMEA, Americas and Pacific at the first international VCT event of the year.

VCT China Kickoff 2026 took place from January 22nd until February 9th, featuring 10 partner teams and two rosters from the region’s VCT Ascension events.

Thanks to Kickoff’s new triple-elimination format, the competition crowns a winner for the Upper Bracket, Middle Bracket and Lower Bracket finals, resulting in three Masters Santiago slots per VCT region.

All Gamers was the first team to qualify for Masters Santiago, winning the event in its entirety. The organisation kicked off the season with an almost fully rebuilt roster, consisting of four Chinese players and Russian import Roman ‘f4ngeer’ Smirnov. 

Only Yang ‘Shr1mp’ Yong and in-game leader (IGL) Huang ‘K1ra’ Zhihao remain from All Gamers’ 2025 line-up.

Despite these major changes, All Gamers went on an impressive run in Kickoff’s Upper Bracket. The underdog first took down Nova Esports (2-0), followed by Bilibili Gaming (2-0) and Dragon Ranger Gaming (2-0), the latter of which represented the region at VALORANT Champions Paris last year.

A 3-2 victory over another Champions 2025 participant, XLG Esports, in the Upper Bracket Final awarded All Gamers with the region’s first seed at Masters Santiago.

XLG Esports first competed in China’s semi-franchised VALORANT circuit after winning the region’s Ascension tournament in 2024. Last year, the organisation automatically retained its tier-one privileges by placing higher at VALORANT Champions than fellow Ascention team Dragon Ranger Gaming.

For the 2026 season, XLG Esports signed former Wolves Esports player Liang ‘Lysoar’ Youhao and Taiwanese rookie Huang ‘WsLeo’ Ping-wei following the departure of Colin ‘coconut’ Chung and Ran ‘Viva’ Lifan.

The revamped roster had an excellent start at Kickoff, defeating Wolves Esports (2-0) and EDward Gaming (2-0). Despite its loss against All Gamers in the Upper Bracket Final, the Ascension team bounced back swiftly to take down Bilibili Gaming (3-2) in the Middle Bracket Final.

XLG Esports is now headed to Santiago, Chile, as VCT China’s second seed.

China’s third seed at Masters Santiago was locked in by 2024 VALORANT Champions winner EDward Gaming. 

Following a mixed VCT 2025 season, the Chinese organisation made significant changes to its coaching staff. Most notably, EDG replaced its previous Head Coach Tang ‘Muggle’ Shijun with Shao ‘24K’ Yubo and former T1 Head Coach Yoon ‘Autumn’ Eu-teum.

The organisation also signed Wang ‘cb‘ Qingchuan to replace Zhang ‘Jieni7’ Juntai, who currently sits on EDG’s bench.

As one of the region’s representatives at Champions 2025, EDG started its VCT 2026 Kickoff run in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, where it decisively defeated TYLOO (2-0). However, the roster was soon sent to the Lower Bracket following defeats to XLG Esports (0-2) and Bilibili Gaming (1-2).

From there, EDG won three consecutive matches against JD Gaming (2-1), TYLOO (2-1), and Dragon Ranger Gaming (2-1) to reach the Lower Bracket Final. The best-of-five (BO5) series today saw EDG swiftly take revenge against its previous Middle Bracket opponent Bilibili Gaming (3-1).

While EDG, All Gamers and XLG Esports have secured a spot at Masters Toronto, the other VCT regions, EMEA, Americas and Pacific, have yet to conclude their Kickoff events. By February 16th, all 12 Masters Santiago competitors will have been determined.

Movistar KOI has launched an open application process for a new League of Legends amateur team.

The Spanish organisation has shared a public Google Form on social media, inviting players to step forward and ‘be part of our amateur team’. 

The initiative is aimed at finding ‘committed players’ who want to compete and grow within one of Europe’s biggest esports organisations. By opening applications to the public, MKOI is seemingly bypassing traditional scouting methods and allowing players to directly put themselves in front of the club’s coaching staff.

The Spanish organisation already operates the Movistar KOI Fénix academy roster in the Spanish second division, with all current players under contract until the end of the year. This open call potentially alludes to a third roster being made to compete in Tier 3 leagues and amateur divisions— though no official plans have been confirmed. The open application call could also potentially serve to either expand the organisation’s scouting pool or prepare for future roster changes.

As a Spanish organisation, MKOI plays a key role in the national League of Legends ecosystem, with its academy team competing in the Spanish ERL. Opening amateur applications further strengthens its presence at the grassroots and community level.

Applicants are asked to provide basic personal details such as their name, in-game nickname, age, residency, and contact information via email and Discord. Players must also specify the League server they play on and their main in-game position.

Competitive-related questions focus on experience and commitment, while other questions cover English level, schedule availability, and past behaviour. Players are asked when they started seriously grinding League of Legends, how many Solo Queue games they played last season, and what their peak rank was in 2025. 

The form also asks for Riot ID details, previous team experience, and VODs of gameplay. Applicants must disclose whether they have ever been banned by Riot Games and explain the situation if applicable. While no clear rank requirement is listed, the form suggests Movistar KOI is targeting motivated, active players with competitive ambition — exactly the passionate profiles usually targeted for academy and amateur-level teams.

IEM Kraków 2026 has come to an end with Team Vitality adding another Tier 1 trophy to its ever-expanding collection.

ESL’s first Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) event of the season featured the top 24 teams from January’s Valve Regional Standings (VRS), setting the scene for a highly competitive event. IEM’s Kraków debut saw teams cement their legacy, with others hoping to rediscover form as attention turns towards the IEM Cologne Major. 

As the dust settles on another high-profile tournament, Esports Insider checks out the biggest winners and losers from IEM Kraków 2026.

The defending Major champion has continued dominating the international CS2 circuit, displaying incredible levels of consistency alongside surviving challenges that have faced the team. 

Kicking off the event with a bang, the team successfully navigated its way through the Group Stage and the semi-final without conceding a map. Moreover, Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut continued to cement his place as the world’s best CS2 player thanks to a scintillating performance in the Grand Final, frequently making an impact with the AWP in hand. 

Victory in Kraków is Team Vitality’s 10th Tier 1 victory in the past 12 months. After withstanding a defiant FURIA side that has been topping the VRS standings, there are no signs of the roster slowing down as it heads towards the next Major.

Ahead of the new season, Nikola ‘NiKo‘ Kovač stated that his Team Falcons side is capable of achieving a lot as it looks to build on a strong second half of 2025. Despite this confidence, the Saudi Arabian esports organisation found itself failing to qualify for another playoff. 

On several occasions, the team lacked the coordination required to compete at the highest level of Counter-Strike, squandering several scenarios where it had the numerical advantage over its opposition. An unexpected loss to Aurora Gaming saw the all-star roster have to claw its way through the Group Stage lower bracket before falling to MOUZ at the final hurdle.

Team Falcons doesn’t have to wait long to redeem itself from a disappointing Kraków campaign as it heads to Romania to compete at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 from February 14th to 22nd.

Throughout 2025, Aurora Gaming showcased glimmers of brilliance in Tier 1 tournaments but often found itself missing out during the final stages. Victory at PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 proved a turning point for the all-Turkish roster, but a top-20 finish at the Budapest Major put a halt to any kind of momentum building.

In late 2025, Caner ‘soulfly’ Kesici joined the starting line-up, and the organisation has started to ramp up its performances, as highlighted at IEM Kraków. Aurora Gaming first secured victories over GamerLegion and paiN Gaming to advance to the Group Stage.

Riding this momentum, the roster provided another strong showing, taking down Team Falcons and MOUZ to book its place in the playoffs. 

While besting FURIA in the quarter-finals proved a step too far, the event showed that Aurora Gaming has the ingredients required to compete among the very best. 

After climbing to third in the global VRS following its BLAST Bounty Season 1 win, Parivision hoped to continue its hot start to 2026 with another strong showing in Kraków. 

In the Play Ins, wins over HEROIC and Aurora Gaming kept this momentum rolling. However, a hard-fought Group Stage defeat to NAVI sent Parivision down to the lower bracket. Narrow margins also played a part in Parivision’s 2-1 defeat to Astralis, knocking the team out of the tournament with a top-16 placement. 

Defeats to established names put the brakes on a promising start for a team continuing to develop and prove it belongs at the top of the Counter-Strike scene.

BC.Game’s attendance in Kraków caught the attention of many fans, mainly because Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev competed in his first Tier 1 tournament since the BLAST.tv Austin Major. After inheriting a place in the top 20 of the global standings, a strong showing offered the team an opportunity to earn valuable VRS points and face off against the very best in the world. 

S1mple showed his class from the outset, scoring a one-versus-four clutch against Legacy in the Play Ins to complete a 2-0 sweep. BC.Game’s Portuguese trio also made an impact, with strong showings against Ninjas in Pyjamas to secure a place in the Group Stage. A tantalising clash between s1mple and ZywOo saw BC.Game outclassed by a superior Team Vitality side, before FaZe Clan sent the team packing with a top-16 placement.

A top-16 finish at BC.Game’s first Tier 1 event is no mean feat. The two wins in the Play-Ins could prove valuable as the team continues to piece together its strategies as it hopes to grab a Cologne Major place. 

Legacy burst onto the Counter-Strike esports scene at the Austin Major after making a run to Stage 3 and scoring a surprise victory over Team Vitality. Since then, the Brazilian roster has cemented itself within the Tier 1 landscape with frequent appearances at high-profile events. 

The team looked to have BC.Game on the ropes, but crumbled in its opening best-of-three as its opponent rallied back to score a 2-0 sweep. Legacy struggled to bounce back against FUT Esports in the lower bracket, falling to another 2-0 defeat to bow out in the Play Ins without scoring a single map win. 

As a result of the disappointing performance, Lucas ‘lux’ Meneghini was moved to the bench in favour of Andrei ‘arT’ Piovezan. Ultimately, Legacy will now look to rediscover the form that cemented its place as one of South America’s forces to be reckoned with.

There are many heroes in Dota 2, and the sheer diversity of the roster is what makes every match feel so different. With over a hundred unique characters, each bringing its own abilities, playstyles, and roles, it’s no wonder that no two drafts ever play out the same.

This guide details the full Dota 2 heroes list with release dates, original DotA names, attributes, and beginner-friendly picks, giving you a complete snapshot of how the hero pool has evolved over time.

Dota 2 heroes are playable characters you control in your matches. Each has a unique set of abilities and can be categorized into one of four attributes: Strength, Intelligence, Agility, or Universal, which influence their stats, scaling, and overall playstyle.

Generally speaking, every Dota 2 hero is designed to fit different roles, based on their specialization.

For example, heavy physical damage dealers typically function as carries, burst-heavy spellcasters dominate the mid lane, durable frontliners excel as offlaners, and healing or crowd-control specialists support the team with utility and vision.

As of patch 7.40c, there are 127 heroes in Dota 2. The most recent addition is the Strength-based support Largo, added on December 16, 2025.

Largo’s in-game description reads:

“The exiled Murkroots of Velu’Mar discovered a living island so ancient it speaks only in song. Raised among the shamanic bards who learned to commune with it, Largo now roams the realms with a troupe of frogling disciples, looking for inspiration for new melodies to bring back home.”

Out of the entire Dota 2 hero roster, 112 heroes (roughly 88%) were ported from the original Defense of the Ancients (DotA) game. The remaining characters were introduced after patch 7.00 launched on August 23, 2016, which is when Valve began actively expanding the Dota 2 hero pool.

While early post-7.00 releases came quickly, the pace has slowed significantly in recent years. Today, Valve typically releases one new hero every 8–12 months, with occasional longer gaps between releases as the focus shifts toward balance updates and major gameplay changes.

Here is a list of all Dota 2 heroes with names and release dates for each character. This timeline illustrates perfectly how the hero pool has expanded over the years.

Here’s the full roster of Dota 2 heroes sorted by Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Universal attributes.

There is no fixed schedule or timeline for hero releases in Dota 2. Valve adds new characters at random, though historically, new heroes are typically announced around key events like The International or major gameplay patches.

From 2010 to 2013, Valve ported many classic heroes from the original DotA Warcraft III mod. However, the developers embraced an entirely new philosophy post-7.00 in 2016, moving toward carefully designed, lore-driven heroes like Mars, Hoodwink, Muerta, and Ringmaster.

Since then, Dota 2 has averaged roughly one hero per year, with Valve clearly favoring quality over quantity.

It’s no secret that Dota 2 is one of the hardest games to learn—but with the right starter hero, you can make the steep learning curve less punishing. The best beginner heroes share a few key traits: low complexity, simple ability kit, high durability, and self-sustain.

Perhaps the most important factor is to play heroes with simple mechanics and a low skill floor. This includes having straightforward ability kits that require minimal micromanagement, like a passive-heavy kit or simple “point and click” spells that are hard to miss and easy to set up.

Durability is another key factor. Having inherent tankiness (i.e., high armor, health regeneration, or max HP) built-in sustain (e.g., healing or lifesteal), or, in the case of Wraith King, a reincarnation ability that brings you back to life if you die, ensures you remain impactful and recover from mistakes.

Below, you can find a few beginner-friendly heroes to try. To learn more about them, you can find all the Dota 2 heroes’ names and abilities in the game client.

Tournament organiser BLAST has renewed its partnership with ASUS for the 2026 BLAST Premier season, which includes six Tier 1 Counter-Strike 2 events.

ASUS has been named the official monitor, PC, laptop, mouse and keyboard partner for the events, which are set to take place across three continents and five countries.

“For two decades, ROG’s mission has been to innovate products that offer exceptional experiences. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re bringing that legacy to the competitive scene like never before,” said Kris Huang, General Manager of the ASUS Gaming and Workspace Gear business unit.

“With this partnership, we’ve built a seamless ecosystem between our ultrafast displays and precision gear. It’s all designed so that gamers can achieve their true potential together in play.”

ASUS products will be utilised for broadcast across all events in 2026, Notbaly this includes BLAST Bounty Season 1, which has already taken place. The full list includes the following:

BLAST Bounty Season 1: January 13th to January 25th (Malta)
BLAST Open S1 2026: March 18th to March 29th (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
BLAST Rivals S1: April 29th to May 3rd (Fort Worth, Texas, USA)
BLAST Bounty S2: July 21st to August 2nd (Malta)
BLAST Open S2: August 26th to September 6th (Europe)
BLAST Rivals S2: November 11th to 15th (Hong Kong)

Besides being integrated into the broadcast, ASUS is set to receive its own broadcast segment. This will contain highlight replays and exclusive camera angles. The brand will also put up a branded booth at all Premier Arena (non-studio) events.

BLAST said in a release that it conducted a survey with attendees in 2025 which showed that one-third of fans already use ASUS products. Additionally, 76% of fans engaged with ASUS products following the event.

“2025 was an incredibly successful first BLAST Premier season in this new era of Counter-Strike, and we’re proud to be going into 2026 re-signing with an industry leader in ASUS,” said Kevin Nguyen, Director of Partnerships at BLAST. “ASUS products not only elevated our competition standards, but also created unique experiences for attending fans at our events.”

BLAST Open S1 2026, the next tier 1 event by the tournament operator, will feature 16 teams and a prize pool of $400,000 (~£293,000). Invites will be based on the February VRS, meaning the full list of confirmed teams is expected soon.

Ninjas in Pyjamas, NRG, 9z Team, and Tyloo have already confirmed a place in the event through BLAST Rising tournaments across Europe, North America, South America, and Asia, respectively.

PUBG Blindspot is a close reinterpretation of Rainbow Six Siege, but with an isometric view, forcing the developers at Krafton to completely rethink tactical scenarios that are seen from historic FPS titles.

With early access launched on February 5th, Esports Insider breaks down the game and also assesses the title’s competitive potential.

PUBG Blindspot is a free-to-play PC game that has a simple round-based structure, with attackers and defenders (five vs five) alternating between holding or taking control of sites on each map to detonate a ‘bomb’. The gameplay is that of a hero shooter, with fixed weapons and selectable gadgets. The fun lies in its unique way of perceiving space and gathering information.

PUBG Blindspot has just been released in early access, and at first glance, it’s a project that looks different from other games in the genre. The isometric point of view goes well beyond third-person, pushing the camera further away. The maps are a maze of rooms and corridors, similar to those in Rainbow Six.

In addition to implementing a transparent roof for all rooms, Krafton are playing with the concept of vision to shake up the tactical shooter space.

When players aim a rifle, a cone of ‘light’ appears in front of their character. This vision is a space on the map where an enemy is revealed if they’re within it. Vision is shared between all players on each team, so it’s possible to see an enemy appear in the corner of the screen, outside one’s vision, because it passed into the vision of a teammate. This information helps to plan rotations, assaults, and other manoeuvres.

The name Blindspot refers precisely to this dynamic: staying out of sight and organising movements to stay in the enemy’s blind spot. The strategy provides an advantage that contributes significantly to victory.

It takes relatively little time for a tactical FPS veteran to adjust to this game’s unique way of managing the camera and shooting, but a few games are enough to realise that the learning curve is truly steep.

A PUBG Blindspot match lasts a maximum of seven rounds, with victory going to the first team to reach four wins. After three rounds, attackers and defenders swap roles and change characters. Not all characters are exclusively attackers or defenders. 

However, Apex, for example, who has an assault rifle and a grenade that negates an area and deals damage over time, is only available in attack mode.

Others, like Patch, armed with a different assault rifle and a grenade that creates a wall of foam, are available for both attack and defence. 

Weapons are fixed for each agent, like in R6 Siege, and differ in range, rate of fire, and recoil pattern. Each agent can also choose from a list of universal secondary gadgets, such as barbed wire or a deployable shield for defence and three types of grenades (fragmentation, smoke, or stun) in attack.

Being in Early Access, there are still several details to iron out, especially on the balancing side. Agent Whistle’s Blue Chip Tracker, for example, is incredibly overpowered, while Clarice’s motion sensor doesn’t provide enough useful information to justify choosing her.

Despite typical flaws that are expected from a game at this stage of development, the game is fun for tactical shooter fans. Its main problem is the uncertainty that all new live services face once it hits the market. Will the innovative aspects and the remixing of ideas from previous releases be enough to retain players in the long run?

PUBG can count on a global promotional network and loyal users, so there’s no doubt Blindspot will receive a major push from its parent company. As a game with limited agents or settings, the gameplay will have to carry the brunt of breaking through in an oversaturated genre.

Competitionally, the game has its appeal as an entertainment product. It benefits from the isometric view of each character, providing much more information than the personal perspective of a first-person shooter. On the other hand, the action is much more distant from the viewer than seeing the match through the eyes of the competitor.

PUBG Blindspot’s uniqueness lies in its ability to express player skill more tactically and less mechanically than competitors like CS2 or VALORANT. Only the public response (SteamDB recorded a peak attendance of just over 3,000 at its early access launch) and Krafton’s decisions, however, will dictate whether the game has a competitive future.

Dan Hawkins, F1 Esports Coordinator at Codemasters, has revealed that the F1 Esports scene has never featured an equal playing field due to the characteristics of the sim racing franchise’s physics models.

As a result, specific in-game cars performed better than others, offering some drivers an advantage while competing in the official esports series of the Formula One World Championship.

With F1 25 nearing the end of its cycle, Hawkins revealed that the F1 Esports cars have never used equal performance since the series launched in 2017. As a result, the drivers of certain cars have an upper hand over their opponents.

In addition to physics playing a role in influencing performance, the game engine used in F1 titles is tied to the frame rate generated. A lower frame rate often results in a reduced feeling of bumps and cornering forces.

“F1 Esports has never had an equal playground,” wrote Hawkins in a social media post.

He later added: “There’s a reason why a Haas will never feel the same as the current dominant car in-game. But you can fix this by setting your FPS to 50, and the game is easy.”

For 2026, the F1 franchise will not receive a standalone release. Instead, F1 25 will receive a paid expansion, featuring the eleven teams and drivers competing in this year’s world championship. As an expansion, it remains to be seen whether the advantage influenced by its physics model will remain if esports competitions continue.

Following the conclusion of the 2025 F1 Sim Racing season, won by Jarno Opmeer, EA Sports and its subsidiary Codemasters haven’t shared information on what the future of the series has in store.

Last year’s event saw 30 drivers competing for a $750,000 (~£549,345) prize pool across 12 rounds that took place at ESL‘s Stockholm studios.