The Ligue Française de League of Legends (LFL) has announced the format for its 2026 season, which will commence with a Winter Invitational, followed by the Spring and Summer splits.

The LFL Invitational, which officially kicks off on January 21st, will see 20 teams compete for two EMEA Masters spots. Moreover, two opportunities to be a part of the LFL’s regular season 10-team lineup for 2026 are up for grabs.

The opening tournament will feature seven LFL teams, eight teams from the second division, as well as three Game Changers teams. Karmine Corp Blue, the LPL’s eighth team, will not participate due to being involved in next year’s LEC Versus event.

Additionally, there will be two additional influencer teams: one named French Flair, led by G2 co-streamer Jean ‘Trayton‘ Medzadourian, and ZYB, built around Karmine Corp substitute player Yasin ‘Nisqy‘ Dinçer.

The 20 teams will initially participate in a group stage featuring five groups of four teams each. Every group will have a mix of LFL teams, Division 2 teams, Game Changers lineups, and, where applicable, the two influencer teams. The top two teams from each group will advance to the next phase. Currently, no indication regarding the match format has been given.

The remaining 10 teams will then be placed into a single super group, where the second stage begins. This phase will determine the top six teams going to the playoffs, which will feature a double-elimination bracket, a common format used in the tier-one scene.

The top two teams from the super group will be placed in the upper bracket, while teams ranked third to sixth will start in the lower one.

At the end of the tournament, the two best non-LFL teams will be able to secure a slot in the European Regional Leagues (ERL) for the rest of the 2026 season and will compete in the following two splits. As a result, this marks a new entry point for teams to enter the tier-two scene, including Game Changers rosters.

The new season format comes shortly after Riot announced changes to its policies in the ERLs. This included removing the unified Locally Trained Representative (LTR) mandate and giving more leeway to every league for roster-building requirements, thus increasing overall regional autonomy.

China’s esports industry recorded steady growth in 2025, with total revenue reaching ¥29.331bn (~$4.02bn / ~£3.19bn), marking a year-on-year increase of 6.4%, according to figures revealed at the 2025 China Esports Industry Annual Conference.

The data was published on December 4th during the conference in Beijing’s Shijingshan District by Tang Jiajun, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, Secretary-General of the Game Working Committee and Director of the Esports Working Committee.

Tang said the industry continued to progress along three core tracks — mainstream adoption, cross-industry integration and international expansion — while also strengthening governance and talent development.

“China’s esports industry will take ecosystem co-construction as its main development theme, uphold its social responsibilities and promote the healthy and orderly growth of the industry,” Tang said at the conference.

According to the report, livestreaming remained the largest revenue driver in China’s esports economy, accounting for 80.81% of total industry income. Tournament operations, clubs and other business segments made up the remainder.

China’s esports audience also continued to grow, surpassing 495m users in 2025, representing a 1.06% increase compared to the previous year. By game genre, shooters accounted for the largest share of esports revenue at 28.3%. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) and sports titles followed at 14.1% each.

From a platform perspective, mobile esports titles dominated the market at 58.6%, followed by PC client games at 25.3%. Hybrid titles available across both platforms accounted for 12.1%, while browser-based esports titles represented 4.0%.

Among the top ten mobile esports games by revenue, shooting and MOBA titles were the most prevalent, featuring three shooters and two MOBA games. On PC, six of the ten most popular client-based esports titles were shooters.

In 2025, China hosted 142 non-exhibition provincial-level esports tournaments featuring professional players — an increase of 18 events compared to the previous year. More than half (54%) were held fully offline, 37% used a hybrid online-offline format and 9% were entirely online.

Event host cities were concentrated mainly in East and Southwest China. Shanghai led the country, hosting 19.2% of offline esports events, followed by Chengdu at 10.6% and Chongqing at 7.9%.

By the end of 2025, China was home to 165 active esports clubs. Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen were the only cities with ten or more clubs, with Shanghai retaining the largest concentration. More than half of clubs (54.3%) competed in just one esport, while 22.8% participated in two titles. A further 6.3% competed in three, and 7.1% were involved across four different esports.

The report also highlighted China’s continued expansion into overseas esports markets, particularly across Southeast Asia (SEA), the Middle East and Latin America. Tournaments for domestically developed esports titles attracted tens of millions of international viewers, with peak concurrent viewership for top-tier events exceeding 4.13m.

Looking ahead, Tang said the industry will focus on strengthening high-quality content supply, expanding scenario-based ‘esports+’ collaborations and deepening global cooperation to push China’s esports ecosystem toward ‘a higher-level structure.’

The China Esports Industry Annual Conference is jointly backed by national industry organisations and serves as one of the country’s most important annual benchmark reports for esports performance, policy development and market direction.

Project Blender has cancelled the LAN Finals in Paris for its Phase 4 due to ‘logistical challenges’ and visa issues.

The inaugural edition of the VALORANT tournament will instead conclude online, with its casting team delivering the live broadcast from Paris.

“We regret to announce a change in the organisation of our final phase,” shared Project Blender today. 

“Due to logistical challenges and difficulties securing the necessary visas, the final stages will now be played online instead of at our scheduled in-person event in Paris.

The best-of-three Grand Final, as well as the Third Place Match afterwards, was initially planned to take place offline in Paris, France.

While the tournament has been running since October, the Phase 4 kicked off today. Sixteen organisations, including VCT giants such as Team Vitality and amateur rosters, are competing for a €40,000 prize pool.

The teams begin their journey in the Round of 16, with the top eight squads advancing to the Quarter Final taking place on December 12th. Finals will take place on December 13th and 14th, where the remaining four teams will battle for the title. All stages of the Project Blender Phase 4 will follow single-elimination format.

Project Blender was announced in July as an off-season tournament open to EMEA players across all VALORANT competitive tiers. 

In addition to its unique prize pool distribution system, the competition also introduced ‘Blender Draft’. Similar to League of Legends’ ‘Fearless Draft’, this rule forbids a team from selecting the same agents it chose for the previous map within a series.

Project Blender is divided into four phases, each with specific participation requirements and seeding rules. Moreover, Phase 2 saw a dedicated co-ed competition, Blender Spotlight, which awarded the winning team with a direct slot in Phase 3.

After Governor Kathy Hochul signed bill S5935A into law, New York has formally outlawed online sweepstakes casinos.

The action immediately shuts down one of the biggest sweepstakes markets in the US by making it illegal to operate sweepstakes casino platforms within the state.

The law, which takes effect immediately, prohibits operators and businesses, including payment processors, geolocation providers, content suppliers, platform providers, and media affiliates, from supporting these platforms.

Senator Joseph Addabbo first proposed the bill in March 2025, and it went through the legislative process for about nine months.

Addabbo, who chairs the Senate Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee, assisted in steering S5935A through both the Assembly and Senate, where it was approved earlier this year before getting forwarded to the Governor for final sign-off.

The legislation specifically forbids online sweepstakes games that use a dual-currency payment system by amending New York’s racing, pari-mutuel wagering, and breeding laws.

S5935A defines a sweepstakes game as any online or mobile game, competition, or promotion that uses two currencies, usually one paid and one promotional. This has been the norm for sweepstakes casinos that offer redeemable prizes.

The law authorises the state gaming commission, state police, and the attorney general’s office to enforce compliance, which forbids the operation, conduct, or promotion of such games in New York.

Penalties for infractions may reach $100,000 (£75,133) per offense, and the current or prospective gaming licences may be revoked.

In anticipation of this result, the majority of significant sweepstakes casino operators had already started leaving New York earlier this year after Attorney General Letitia James announced cease-and-desist actions against 26 operators.

Since the law went into effect, players in New York are no longer able to legally access sweepstakes-style casinos that offer Sweeps Coins that can be redeemed for cash.

Pure social casinos like ZitoBox and Gambino Slots, which only offer entertainment without real-money redemptions, are the closest options still available.

In 2025, New York joins California, New Jersey, Montana, and other states that have taken steps to limit or outlaw dual-currency sweepstakes casino models by passing anti-sweepstakes legislation.