ZETA Division’s Street Fighter player Kakeru ‘Kakeru‘ Watanabe has announced his retirement from competitive play.

The Capcom Cup 11 champion has cited a “neural dysfunction” behind the decision to stop competing.

Announced on social media, Kakeru’s decision to retire comes after two months of inactivity. In September, the player was due to compete as part of ZETA Division’s roster for the Street Fighter League Pro-JP 2025.

“The team and I have carefully discussed the possibilities for continuing my activities in the future, but I judged that it would be difficult to continue as a player,” said Kareku.

“I will leave ZETA Division by the end of the year and will focus on recovering my health going forward.”

Kakeru began competing in Street Fighter esports in 2021, competing across several high-profile events.

After winning Capcom Cup 11 in March, Kakeru cemented his place as one of Japan’s best Street Fighter players with a second-place finish at Evo 2025.

Since entering Street Fighter in 2024, ZETA Division has nine players competing in various tournaments.

The organisation currently sits in fourth place in the Street Fighter League Pro-JP 2025 regular season. 12 teams from across Japan are competing in the regular season, with the top three teams from each division securing qualification to the playoffs.

The winner of the league earns direct qualification to the SFL World Championship 2025 and the lion’s share of a ¥15m (~£73,725) prize pool.

As a result of Kakeru’s retirement, ZETA Division has recruited ‘Yamaguchi‘ to its SFL roster. The player has continued to climb through the ranks, scoring a top 12 finish at Evo France 2025.

Kakeru departs Street Fighter esports as one of the title’s most successful players, winning $1.4m (~£1.05m) over the course of his career. Esports Insider wishes him well in his recovery.

Global gaming and lifestyle brand Razer has launched the Raiju V3 Pro esports controller for the PlayStation 5.

The controller features Razer’s Pro HyperTriggers and removable back buttons for greater customisation options.

Unveiled on October 23rd, 2025, the controller includes ‘symmetrical TMR thumbsticks’ designed to deliver greater levels of tension and less stick drift during competitive play.

Razer’s HyperTriggers give players the ability to adjust trigger actuation points and responsiveness to optimise the controller for first-person shooter titles such as Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Apex Legends.

“The Raiju V3 Pro is a game-changer on the PS5,” said Los Angeles Thieves player Paco ‘HyDra‘ Rusiewiez. “The TMR thumbsticks are laser-precise and the customisation lets me fine-tune every input to match my playstyle.”

The launch of the Raiju V3 Pro follows a teaser from Razer and HyDra published on October 20th.

“We’ve worked very closely with our pro players when building the Raiju V3 Pro,” added Jeffrey Chau, Global Esports Director at Razer. “Every feature is designed for precision, speed, and control. It’s a controller built around what pro players need to perform at their peak.”

Throughout 2025, Razer has continued to expand its extensive range of peripherals. In July, it launched the DeathAdder V4 Pro mouse developed alongside Team Falcons Counter-Strike player Nikola ‘NiKo‘ Kovač.

Outside of product launches, the brand has become one of the first in the peripherals space to adopt the use of AI. In August, it launched its AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore to support the development of technology used in gaming and esports.

Gaming controllers remain an integral part of both console and PC esports. With the launch of Razer’s Raiju V3 Pro, players have a greater choice when choosing a controller that can improve in-game performance across various titles, thanks to its customisation options.

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings hopes its major restructuring will help it deliver profitability – and give its investors a much-needed boost.

The Canadian digital publisher recently divested its direct sales business, including the Luminosity esports organisation, in a $900,000 deal.

The move has already had a positive impact on the EGLX stock price, which has risen 50% over the past six months after sinking earlier in 2025.

But what happens next? Will this be the start of a prolonged turnaround for the shares, or are there other factors influencing its attractiveness?

In our Enthusiast Gaming Holdings stock forecast 2025-2030, we examine how the company’s changed, analyse its recent performance, and predict what could come next.

It’s important to recognise that EGLX, which is only listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, having voluntarily delisted from the Nasdaq, is a relatively small stock.

As the market closed on October 21, 2025, the EGLX stock price was CAD$0.075, valuing the business at CAD$11.94 million.

The main problem with investing in businesses of this size is that relatively few – if any – stock market analysts follow them closely. This means there’s relatively little independent opinion available from professional investors, making forming an opinion challenging.

According to the algorithmic forecasts of Wallet Investor, the EGLX share price could drop to zero over the coming year.

It stated: “According to our live Forecast System, Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc stock is a bad long-term (1-year) investment.”  

How about the longer-term Enthusiast Gaming Holdings stock prediction? What are the EGLX stock predictions of analysts and algorithmic forecasters for the next five years?

As we’ve already discussed, there’s relatively little in the way of analyst predictions, so that makes an accurate EGLX share price forecast virtually impossible.

According to Wallet Investor’s algorithmic forecasts, investors in EGLX stock could be in for a fairly miserable next five years. However, time will tell whether this proves to be accurate.

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings stock year-to-date: -44.44%

As the stock market closed on October 21, 2025, the EGLX share price was trading almost 45% lower than at the start of the year. 

However, this doesn’t accurately illustrate the fall in the wake of the first quarter’s results and the uptick due to the summer’s business restructuring.

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings stock one-year performance: -46.43%

Declining revenues in certain parts of the business have been a drain on performance and affected the stock price over the past year.

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings stock five-year performance: -95.31%

EGLX investors have had a pretty miserable five years, according to the company’s woeful share price performance. 

The Enthusiast Gaming Holdings stock price has lost 95% of its value over this period due to factors such as declining revenues.

The company achieved revenue of CAD$10 million in the second quarter of 2025, according to its latest results, lower than the CAD$14.7 million recorded for the same period in 2024.

It attributed the “majority of the decline” to a decrease in both direct sales and the Omnia video platform. Gross profit, meanwhile, fell CAD$1.7 million to CAD$8 million due to less revenue.

Operating expenses fell by CAD$1 million to CAD$10.6 million, and the adjusted EBITDA loss rose CAD$1 million to CAD$1.4 million.

As far as Enthusiast Gaming Holdings news is concerned, it’s been a hectic few months with senior management changes, debt financing, and the sale of certain divisions.

It was announced in July that Alex Macdonald, a founding executive of the business and its chief financial officer, would be taking over as chief executive. 

The company noted that he’d played a key role in taking Enthusiast public as well as directly overseeing flagship properties such as The Sims Resource and U.GG.

The statement also revealed it had entered into an agreement to sell the direct sales business, including Omnia Media and Luminosity Gaming.

Separately, Enthusiast announced in late July that a debt financing transaction had been completed, resulting in it receiving a non-revolving loan of $2 million.

Enthusiast announced the completion of its direct sales business divestment to Vertiqal Studios for CAD$900,000 in early September 2025.

It said the transaction was expected to result in approximately CAD$10 million of annual cost savings, as well as $4.5 million of balance sheet improvement and working capital benefits.

Alex Macdonald said: “This transaction is a significant step forward and marks the beginning of a new era for Enthusiast Gaming.”

In a statement, US-based Vertiqal said its digital communities were scaling across every major social and streaming platform.

“Omnia’s YouTube network and Luminosity’s premier Twitch presence, combined with our scale across TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, position us to deliver fully integrated campaigns for brand partners and expand our premium programmatic guaranteed offerings,” it added.

A key conclusion of our EGLX stock analysis is that much will depend on how the refocused business model performs over the coming months.

Of course, that’s more difficult at this stage because the divestment was only finalised in September 2025, and everything is still settling down.

So, what does this mean for the remaining Enthusiast Gaming Holdings business, and how will the divestment affect its financial state?

Well, the new-look company will focus on operating and expanding its portfolio of digital assets as well as its global B2B event series, PocketGamer Connects.

Its gaming properties include U.GG, Icy-Veins, Addicting Games, Fantasy Football Scout, LiveFPL, GameKnot, ProBuildStats and The Countdown.

Commenting as Enthusiast published second-quarter results in mid-August 2025, Alex Macdonald said the company’s products made playing games more meaningful.

The remaining properties in the portfolio, he pointed out, were “profitable, valuable, trusted by audiences, and positioned for continued growth”.

“Direct sales and creative production, including Omnia, Luminosity, and related assets, have been important parts of our history, but they are not part of our future,” he said.

He explained how exiting these areas will allow the company to direct its “energy, talent and reinvestment” toward building and improving owned and operated platforms.

“In Q2, these non-core segments were the primary source of losses and the driver of year-over-year declines,” he added. “Their departure will remove a major drag on our results and give a clearer view of the strength, value, and profitability of our core business.”

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings is a Canada-based digital publisher that owns a portfolio of websites used by competitive gamers.

Its brands include U.GG, a data-driven platform providing real-time stats, and Icy Veins, which offers strategies for games such as World of Warcraft.

There’s also The Sims Resource, which enables players to download custom content such as clothing, and Fantasy Football Scout, which helps inspire better decision-making.

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings voluntarily delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market in late 2023 as it felt the dual listing (on the TSX as well) was a greater administrative burden.

In a statement, the costs of higher annual insurance, listing, reporting, legal and compliance were more than CAD$2 million.

“We intend to redeploy these expenditures to invest in growth areas of the business, which management believes will be more beneficial to creating shareholder value,” it added.

The final decision is down to you. Whether or not it’s an attractive stock will depend on your opinion of its prospects and your attitude to risk.

A lot has happened to the company over the last six months, and it will be interesting to see how it develops without the direct sales business.

Realistically, we won’t get a clear picture of how the post-divestment version of Enthusiast Gaming is performing until the fourth quarter results are published in early 2026.

The question will be: should you buy into the stock now, hoping to ride a positive wave, or sit tight and see how it looks to be shaping up?

Trading carries financial risk and can lead to losses. Always conduct your own analysis and never invest more than you can afford to lose.

The LEC, League of Legends’ tier-one league for the EMEA region, has introduced a revised competitive structure in 2026.

A new tournament will open the year, followed by aligned formats for LEC Spring and Summer 2026. 

The new first-quarter event — LEC Versus — replaces the former Winter Split and includes all 10 LEC partners plus two invited teams from the EMEA Regional Leagues.

Sheep Esports had previously reported on the new event before the official release, and at the time fans’ reaction was divided. Some welcomed additional opportunities for regional teams, while others questioned how franchise owners would respond to competing with non-franchised sides that have not paid for a spot in the league.

In its latest announcement, the LEC stated: “Expect fan-favourite formats, high-impact competition, and new storylines filled with energy, passion, and moments that will have you glued to the edge of your seat.”

LEC Versus will replace the Winter Split and feature 12 teams in a Single Round Robin with best-of-one matches. The top eight advance into a double-elimination playoff bracket. BO3 will be used early in the playoffs, with BO5 for the later rounds.

Regarding the two new teams, one invitation will be given to the 2025 EMEA Masters Summer Champion, while the second goes to a team selected for ‘consistent, standout performance across the 2025 competitive season’. The exact evaluation criteria for that assessment have not yet been revealed.

“These aren’t LEC spots, but special invitations earned through competitive excellence within the ERL ecosystem,” Riot said.

Furthermore, Riot Games has not yet confirmed if there are restrictions on which EMEA teams may be selected. This currently suggests that academy teams could be invited.

Riot Games has also noted some offseason limitations that have been put in place for the two invited teams. Overall, three out of five players from the original European Masters roster need to remain for LEC Versus. Possible exceptions can occur, but that is based on the LEC’s discretion.

The winner of LEC Versus will earn an EMEA slot for the First Stand international event. A spot in the LEC for Spring and Summer will not be on the line.

LEC partner teams — like G2, Fnatic, Karmine Corp — hold permanent slots in the league and participate in Riot’s revenue share structure. This structure pools income from sponsorships, media rights and in-arena revenue to support long-term financial stability within the franchise system.

ERL teams invited into LEC Versus will not be part of that arrangement, and therefore do not benefit from this structure. Instead, these teams will be paid a participation stipend, which is likely intended to offset operational costs such as travel, accommodation and temporary support staff for the tournament.

After a year with three different formats for three Splits, in 2026, both Spring and Summer will follow the same structure with best-of-three matches in the Single Round Robin and best-of-five playoffs for the top six. Both splits will only feature the 10 partnered franchise organisations.

Qualification paths remain unchanged, with Spring qualifying two teams for MSI and Summer three or more for Worlds.

“Delivering a consistent format and predictable schedule for both the Spring and Summer Splits will enable more LEC Roadtrips and bring fans more competition”, Riot added.

With the format reset and possibly new teams representing the LEC at internationals, fans will now wait to see whether the revamped schedule provides more competitive depth and clearer storylines or whether concerns around non-franchised participation resurface as the season approaches.

Reigning MSI champion Gen.G Esports has defeated Top Esports 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2025 League of Legends World Championship.

The series also saw Top Esports’ Bai ‘369‘ Jiahao and Seo ‘Kanavi‘ Jin-hyeok face off against their former JD Gaming teammate Park ‘Ruler‘ Jae-hyuk, who played two near-flawless games at the Beijing JD Esports Center.

In the first game of the series, Top Esports (TES) struggled against the suppressing map presence of Gen.G’s Kim ‘Canyon‘ Geon-bu. Moreover, the jungler concluded the series with an incredible 9/3/27 KDA.

While the enemy jungler helped Top Esports secure first blood, the Korean team managed to retaliate with picks of its own.

Similarly, TES claimed the first dragon of the series in minute six, just to be punished for forcing a teamfight around the grubs shortly after. This solidified a 10,000 gold lead for Gen.G by the ten-minute mark, which the team methodically exploited.

Top Esports was swiftly overwhelmed across all areas of the rift, suffering team aces and losing the two next drakes as well as the Atakhan. Suffocated for comeback opportunities, the LPL roster had to concede more and more of its lanes until Gen.G took its nexus in under 25 minutes.

For the second encounter, both teams drafted more scaling-focused compositions, leading to a slower early game where Top Esports looked more comfortable compared to game one.

However, it was Gen.G’s Jeong ‘Chovy‘ Ji-hoon who scored first blood this time around despite a rough mid-lane match-up. After its first dragon, the LCK squad slowed its pace even further in anticipation of Chovy’s first crucial item spike on Yone. TES could have leveraged this time window to secure its own first drake for free, but instead, was slaughtered in a delayed teamfight around the dragon pit.

From minute 18 onward, the pace of the game increased massively as both competitors looked primed and ready for teamfights. At first, a mistake from Gen.G’s toplaner, Kim ‘Kiin‘ Ki-in, delivered TES a shutdown on Chovy. The LPL’s own bot-lane scaling efforts also began showing promise.

Yet, when it mattered most, Gen.G outclassed its opponent to win skirmishes for the Atakhan and Baron. Top Esports was conquered again soon after.

Due to today’s loss, Top Esports must prove itself in the last round of Swiss Stage matches on October 25th to secure a Knockout Stage slot.

The draw for these match-ups will take place after tomorrow’s matches. Bilibili Gaming and Keyd Stars will kick off the day at 9 AM BST, followed by 100 Thieves versus reigning Worlds champion T1.

The Counter-Strike 2 skin market is currently in uproar. Developer Valve released a new patch to its free-to-play shooter on October 22, bringing back Retakes mode, a 4v3 match where players must defend or destroy a post-plant location, and some refinements to how some skins are collected. 

In a refinement to the Skin Trade Contract, a way to legally trade these cosmetics in Counter-Strike 2, players can now exchange five Covert items to earn a guaranteed knife or a pair of gloves. This one change has upended a big part of the CS2 marketplace, with parts of it losing over $1.75bn in value. Below, we’re breaking down what these mean for players and the skin-trade market as a whole.

On October 22, Valve released a new patch for Counter-Strike 2 that brought out various refinements, which included:

Adding Retakes as an official game mode supporting Defusal Group Alpha and Defusal Group Delta maps on official matchmaking servers.

However, it’s the change to the Trade Up Contract that’s causing a seismic shift in the Counter-Strike 2 skin market:

Previously, rare knives and gloves could only be obtained from rare drops of cases, or via the Steam market and CS2 skin-market sites. This made certain items very rare and very valuable, which only increased the market cap of the skin market. Now, though, after this major CS2 skin update, we’re already seeing huge drops, as much as 15% as of October 23.

When you look at the overall picture of Counter-Strike 2, it makes sense for Valve to make this change. The company has never been about trading markets – swapping cosmetics was simply seen as a fun attribute in its games like Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. But along the way, some realised that rare items could be traded for players willing to pay a high price for them.

Games are meant to be played for fun, and Valve has always prioritised that. You only need to watch the Half-Life 2 documentary from 2024 to see some of the team explain how they refined certain sections of the sequel to make it more enjoyable to play.

This new patch seems to reinforce that mantra by letting rare knives and gloves be obtained by other means. By allowing five StatTrak or regular Covert items to be traded for a rare item, it gives casual Counter-Strike 2 players an easier way to equip rarer skins to show to their friends and family. Valve wants more players to enjoy the game, not to trade rare items for a higher price.

Granted, some like SAC, owner of the esports team Irish Guys, posted on the social media site X that while the CS2 skin market overall is healthy, there’s going to be a big drop-off from knives and gloves in the coming weeks. But perhaps that’s what Valve is expecting from this patch. Some on Reddit are celebrating the move, too, with one user, PixILL8, explaining how skins have been a distraction in some matches.

For skin collectors who have a bunch of rare knives and gloves, they’re likely seeing a big drop in value already. Many don’t play Counter-Strike 2 for fun; they play for profit in the skin market. When cosmetics become an investment, it becomes something far beyond Valve’s intentions for the game, which is likely why it brought out the patch on October 22. So at the time of writing, many are experiencing a huge shock, and may be wondering where the market will go in the coming weeks.

However, for those who play Counter-Strike 2 for fun, whether that’s casually or as part of an esports team, it’s a benefit. Previously hard-to-obtain items have had barriers lowered significantly thanks to this patch, meaning more players can now claim those that were once higher-value items.

Ultimately, the patch could be a turning point for the CS2 skins market, where more players load up Counter-Strike 2 and are surprised with a rare knife or glove skin, instead of feeling like they need to be involved in the CS2 marketplace. It’s a positive, overall, and we suspect Valve isn’t done with making more changes to the CS2 skins marketplace as a whole.

Valve is known for taking its time in developing games. Half-Life 2 went through many iterations, as did Team Fortress 2. The Counter-Strike series is also one of its big successes, but you can bet that the developer didn’t create later games with the intention of players trading CS2 skins.

The October 22 patch looks to be proof of this by lowering the barrier for casual players to earn the rare knives and gloves that had been previously hard to get. Valve wants players to enjoy its games for what they bring, not to trade cosmetics. In addition, if it’s prepared to make a major change like this to knives and gloves, we’re expecting more to come from Valve soon.