If you’ve ever wondered how VALORANT ranked works, we’re here to give you all the information you need. We’ll discuss the different tiers, how to improve at the game, how the rating system works, and all there is to know about matchmaking and maintaining rank in 2025. 

The VALORANT ranking system is slightly more in-depth than some other competitive games. While progression can seem more linear, the steps needed to move up the rungs of the ladder can be intense. 

We’re reviewing the VALORANT ranked requirements needed to play and what to expect when you get started. You must be level 20 first and foremost. 

So, what are the VALORANT ranks? 

There are 25 VALORANT ranks in the game in 2025, which are divided into nine distinct tiers named after metals and concepts. 

It goes as follows: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Ascendant, Immortal, and Radiant, with three tiers to each section except for the final ranking. 

That means the lowest VALORANT rank is Iron, where everyone will start once they begin playing Riot Games’ tactical shooter competitively. Depending on how well you do in each game, you’ll slowly start to climb the ladder, but it can take longer than some other esports games to push through the various tiers. 

Source: Vstats, as of April 11, 2025

VALORANT’s ranking system is based on your in-game win rate, how well you play, and how consistently you perform. It takes some time to climb through the ranks, as the system takes the rank rating (RR) points into account every time you win (or lose) a game. 

By winning more consistently, you’ll gain a higher amount of RR, but losing in competitive modes will still get you a small amount of it, too. Consistency is the key to steadily ascending the ladder, rather than a few good matches here and a couple of failures there. 

VALORANT ranking is faster at the lower ranks and then slows down the higher up the chain you go, which is to be expected. 

The VALORANT rank distribution is quite surprising when analyzing the game’s current meta. According to Vstats, Silver 1 is the most populated rank in the game, with 9.11%, with Gold 2 making up 8.7%. That means most gamers are in the earlier stages of the competitive scene, and we see a major fall-off with the higher tiers. 

The spread of VALORANT’s ranking thins out as you look into the percentage of players with Gold and Platinum ratings. 

With Diamond, players dwindle from 4.1% to 2%, and this gets even slimmer with Ascendant, with a range of just 2.6% to less than 1% holding this rank. 

This is the trend seen with all Immortal tiers, but especially with Radiant. It’s reported that only 0.04% of players are in this category of high-level play. 

There are a few ways of how to rank up in VALORANT, but few methods are fast or easy. The biggest thing is to improve your fundamentals with your skill development. This means practising your aim and movement skills on the firing range. 

VALORANT has slower and more deliberate movement and aiming mechanics, similar to CS2/CSGO, than most FPS games, with every weapon having a heavy amount of recoil. You must fire in slow and controlled bursts, with the highest amount of accuracy possible when stationary or crouching. 

There are 27 VALORANT agents available in the game in 2025, which are divided into four categories: Duelists, Initiators, Controllers, and Sentinels. 

With mastery of agents, movements, and aiming, you can also improve at VALORANT by understanding every VALORANT agent’s abilities. Some of the best VALORANT agents include Tejo, Clove, Raze, Vyse, Yoru, Deadlock, and Cypher, and they’re praised highly in tier lists for their versatility and options out on the map. 

Abilities are mapped to Q, E, C, and X on the keyboard alongside the standard shooting, which helps the game stand out from the competition. 

Strong communication is key to getting better at VALORANT. Being a tactical shooter, maintaining responsive voice chat, and being prompt with in-game commands will help you to become a more well-rounded player. This could mean alerting the rest of your team about a threat around the corner or taking out a Sentinel, keeping the team safe; this is fundamental to building strategies and a good team dynamic. 

Also crucial to being a better player is to keep a can-do and positive attitude instead of becoming hostile to your teammates or taking the game too far. 

Once you’ve understood this, playing VALORANT ranked matches is the only way to move up the ranks from Iron to Bronze, to Silver, and beyond. 

After going through 20 unrated matches, you’ll be eligible to start on your ranked journey. 

Naturally, it’s important to prioritize winning matches while being a team player instead of just trying to go for the most kills as you go along. Equally vital is learning from your mistakes and improving from each loss to prevent these things from happening again. 

Playing with friends instead of joining with strangers can also make cooperation more natural. 

Unlike many other competitive games, no VALORANT rank decay can occur where you’ll lose your position from inactivity. However, while your rank will not be docked, the hidden Matchmaking Rating (MMR) can shift, which means the types of matches you’ll be placed into can be different from what you are used to. 

The MMR determines your skill level and will place you into a bracket of similarly (or identically) capable players. 

That’s where VALORANT placement matches can occur, which are five provisional matches that you’ll have to perform to adjust your MMR. In addition to inactivity, placement matches happen with each season (formerly episode) change to keep the game-balancing consistent. 

If you win all five matches you participate in, you’ll confidently retain your position, but losing a few more could see you drop rank with particularly poor performance. You can prevent getting rusty by consistently playing a little instead of jumping in and out every few months if you want to take things seriously. 

Ranking in VALORANT can be intimidating at first because of the number of ranks and the time it takes to progress. Once you’re ready to put a foot on the ladder, you will begin at Iron 1, and (with enough time, practice, and effort) you may be able to rise through the ranks to Immortal or even Radiant. 

While most players are comfortable at the Silver and Gold tiers, you can advance if you focus. Learn how to play your favorite agents and put the hours in, and you could make it pro someday. 

If you’re interested in how the pros play the game, we recommend checking out our VALORANT Esports coverage, which goes over new competitive map developments, the teams competing, the events being held, and all the latest news. If you want to take VALORANT seriously, then having more knowledge outside of just playing the game is a good way to get ahead. 

New tactical hero shooter FragPunk has announced that it will launch on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 on April 29th, 2025.

After launching on PC in March and being featured in events such as a recent Twitch Rivals, we explore whether FragPunk has the potential to foster an esports scene.

The official FragPunk account announced the release on X on April 10th, 2025. The long-anticipated news comes some time after NetEase Games and FragPunk developers Bad Guitar Studio announced a delay back in March.

The post went on to share that the console versions will include cross-play, cross-progression, and a variety of in-game rewards available to claim for players on those platforms.

The post reads: “As a token of our gratitude and to make up for the delay, we will be issuing plenty of gifts to console players. These gifts will be sent to all newly registered console game accounts and include exclusive time-limited event rewards from the start of Season 1 up to April 29th.”

The announcement went on to share that those who purchased the Pioneer Bundle on console will receive additional rewards. The full list of rewards and distribution will be revealed closer to launch.

With a steady PC launch back in March 6th, 2025, the question of whether this tactical hero-shooter could become an esports title has entered discussions.

NetEase is known for being quite active within the esports scene, with top esports titles such as Honor of Kings, and it’s latest smash hit Marvel Rivals.

A YouTube video was published on September 23rd, 2024 where content creator Timothy ‘iiTzTimmy’ An spoke with Xin Chang, Creative Director and Producer for FragPunk. During the discussion, thoughts were shared about the potential for a competitive esports scene.

During the interview, iiTzTimmy said: “From my personal experience, I think any 5v5 tactical shooter can be an esport even with the randomness. I think the way the genre is alone, it just creates a lot of room for competition even in casual play and ranked.

“So I do think there will 100% be a competitive aspect of it. The main thing is just figuring out what type of game mode is competitive, and finding that balance between the cards. In a competitive environment I do think that is very important to find that balance.”

We’ve already seen NetEase push FragPunk into a more competitive scene with recent events such as Twitch Rivals 2025. Featuring top content and esports streamers, Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo‘s team managed to win over Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek‘s, ending the tournament 2-0. Though only time will tell if FragPunk will be able to create an exciting and successful esports ecosystem.

Activision has been dealing with cheaters in Call of Duty for decades, but it’s gotten worse as more players gain access to advanced exploitation methods. Some cheaters find ways to shoot through walls, while others exploit precise aimbots that offer perfect aim.

Whether you’re a casual or competitive player, Call of Duty cheating can affect you. Activision and Team Ricochet have been taking new steps to tackle Call of Duty’s cheating problem by issuing bans and implementing ways to detect unfair advantages. Here’s what you should know about cheating in Call of Duty’s competitive scene.

As technology grows, so do new ways to exploit the gameplay systems in Warzone and Call of Duty multiplayer. Famous streamers, as well as everyday fans, often record clips of opponents cheating in their matches, so there has been more public outrage on the topic.

This phenomenon dates back to April of 2020 when Ninja took to X to call out a hacker he encountered in a Warzone match. Accounts by popular online influencers like Ninja help spread public awareness in the COD community, and posts like this have only increased in recent years.

Ninja’s call to action, along with many others, has been essential in getting Activision’s attention. In the last six months, over 228,000 accounts have seen bans due to cheating, with more to come as Team Ricochet implements advanced detection systems into Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Warzone.

Team Ricochet isn’t only targeting cheaters in-game, but also the cheat developers. Activision reported that they’ve forced over 20 cheat developers off the market since the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in October 2024.

They also conveyed that the recently released Season 3 will be bringing improvements to Call of Duty’s security systems and detection for common cheats, like aimbot. By expanding their anti-cheat efforts, Activision reported that they’ve managed to ban 23% of cheaters before they even enter a match.

Tackling cheaters in ranked is essential for Call of Duty to stay popular as a competitive multiplayer title, so luckily, Activision is stepping up to face the problem head-on. Proper detection systems will be imperative in identifying actual cheaters, though false bans can be a problem, too.

The community response to Team Ricochet and its efforts has been mixed, but in 2025, the relationship has developed positively. There are still many fans who feel that Activision could be doing more to combat cheating Call of Duty players, but any new efforts or improvements are typically received well. However, the public comments on Activision’s social media posts regarding anti-cheat programs can be volatile at times.

The biggest complaint COD players have against the recent anti-cheat efforts lies in false bans. For example, Team Ricochet accidentally banned a handful of Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone accounts in October 2024. Players can be banned for aimbot, triggerbot, or cheats that allow you to see through walls, among many other exploitative hacks.

Overall, anti-cheat efforts in Call of Duty have grown significantly since 2020, and Team Ricochet is constantly finding new ways to detect and immediately ban offending cheaters. However, it’s still an ongoing problem that affects thousands of players every day.

Another problem highlighted by Call of Duty fans is the lack of actual punishment offered through account bans. Banned players can simply make another account, highlighted by COD fans, like Anthony on X.

Many players believe that hardware bans for the cheater’s device need to be issued so that they won’t be able to create a new account. Despite public concern, Activision already confirmed in April 2021 that they do issue hardware bans, though this measure is usually only taken against repeat offenders.

It’s unclear exactly how many hardware bans have been issued for Call of Duty Black Ops 6  cheating or Modern Warfare 3, but it doesn’t appear to be Team Ricochet’s primary punishment for cheaters. Banning an entire device is tricky because it creates a worse situation for victims of false bans, so developers usually only use it as a last resort or for repeat offenders.

Call of Duty is doing a lot to combat cheating compared to other first-person shooters, but some games, like Rainbow Six Siege, have gone in different directions with their anti-cheat efforts. In general, all FPS games have issues with cheating, though the way they handle each situation often differs.

In the last year, Ubisoft has introduced new ways to detect cheaters and punish players who participate in non-exploitative, unsavory behavior, like team killing. A reputation system was implemented to reward upstanding R6 players while presenting punishments for bad behavior, including a ban from certain playlists.

The biggest step Ubisoft has recently taken is match cancellation, which cancels a match once a cheater is detected. This effort also utilizes advanced detection systems. By canceling a match, rule-following players won’t be punished or lose their rank.

Rainbow Six Siege now also bans botters permanently following their first offense, a major step up from past action. Though Call of Duty and Rainbow Six Siege offer different ways to tackle cheating, they both take strong action against accounts that have committed an offense.

Taking steps to combat cheating in Call of Duty has multiple effects on the esports scene. First off, fans may lose interest in Call of Duty entirely if they regularly face cheaters in their ranked matches, plus it inspires the idea that cheaters may be present in esports as well.

Additionally, implementing more accurate detection systems can help Activision determine if competitive players may be using cheats or exploiting glitches. Much of the casual fan base is interested in the esports scene as well, so keeping it fair is essential if Activision seeks to grow its presence in the competitive gaming industry.

For online tournaments, Team Ricochet is essential in detecting cheaters before they can ruin matches. Cheating may even be found in a match after it’s finished, which can cause the competitor to be disqualified. Review processes are necessary to determine whether an athlete actually used an exploit, but cheats like aimbot are on Activision’s radar for online competitions.

Other competitive FPS games, such as Rainbow Six Siege and Apex Legends, can learn from Team Ricochet’s anti-cheat efforts and could potentially collaborate with Activision to share their methodology. Though cheating won’t disappear in competitive gaming overnight, it could be largely stamped out in esports with advanced detection technology and zero-tolerance policies.

Though companies like Activision and Ubisoft are making significant strides to disrupt cheaters, new cheat developers continue to present fresh problems for first-person shooters. Team Ricochet will likely need to target the exploit developers before cheating can completely disappear in Call of Duty.

In the meantime, Activision will continue to punish players who cheat by implementing new detection methods. Call of Duty has remained one of the most popular esports for a decade, so keeping the competitive side fair is essential to its popularity.

Team Spirit has officially withdrawn from IEM Melbourne just a week and a half before the event kicks off, ESL announced.

The Russian organisation will be replaced by Complexity Gaming, which was next in line based on the latest Counter-Strike 2 Global VRS rankings. The team has accepted the invitation.

Although Team Spirit notified ESL of its withdrawal on April 4th, neither the team nor ESL has provided a reason for the same.

“Team Spirit have withdrawn from IEM Melbourne on Friday, April 4th and will no longer be competing in the tournament. Complexity accepted our invitation and we’re excited to see them return down under after their Grand Final appearance at IEM Sydney 2023,” ESL stated in the announcement.

Other CS2 organisations that have opted out of the event include G2 Esports, FURIA and Astralis. Here’s the updated list of participating teams, along with their group distribution:

Team Vitality defeated Team Spirit to win IEM Katowice 2025 and with its current roster, combined with Spirit’s absence, the team will be aiming to lift its third CS2 trophy of the year.

With one less top-tier opponent, MOUZ also has a great opportunity to focus on taking BLAST Open Spring and ESL Pro League Season 21 revenge against Vitality and become the champions.

ESL has also revealed the opening matchups and brackets for the event:

IEM Melbourne is set to begin on April 21st, with the Grand Final taking place on April 27th. The tournament will be streamed live on ESL’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. For those attending in person, the Rod Laver Arena will host live audience and tickets are already completely sold out.

Skins in League of Legends (LoL) are a big commodity for players and developer Riot Games. For those unaware, these are in-game cosmetics that can alter the look of characters in several ways. This can range from a straight color swap to a total overhaul that includes new sounds, voices, outfits, and more.

Skins have become synonymous with esports due to their status as the highest honor in the game. To receive your own skin is to enter rarefied air reserved for world champions and Hall of Famers, such as Faker. 

In this guide, we’re going to explain what skins are, how many skins are in LoL, champions with the most skins, and much more.

League of Legends skins are digital cosmetics that can change the appearance of a character in League of Legends in various ways. The evolution of skins in League of Legends since their debut in 2009 has exploded in popularity. Skins can be earned via spending in-game currency, called Riot Points (RP), or by taking part in special in-game events to win or unlock rare skins that can change a character’s voice lines, costume, weapons, and more.

As League of Legends is a free-to-play MOBA game, it’s no surprise that there’s an active player base in the millions every month. This is usually a mix of casual players and professional ones who take part in several esports events every year, such as the League of Legends World Championship, held in October annually.

This is where skins have found a role to play, both for pro players and for Riot Games. Championship skins that take inspiration from certain esports teams and players can be bought, allowing players to show their loyalty by equipping their characters. It’s also a source of revenue, as some of the profits made from these skins go directly back to the prize money at several LoL tournaments.

Since the game’s launch in 2009, in-game skins have gone from the hundreds to the thousands. As of April 2025, there are 1,781 skins available to earn and buy. These aren’t required for players — the game can be played without them. However, there will be scenarios where some skins will be automatically earned — whether by winning a match or following the latest narrative in the wider LoL story.

All League of Legends skins are split into nine variants, all with their unique appearances and requirements, as listed below.

Common skins — These offer minor visual changes like colors or small tweaks to character models.

Epic skins — This is the most common type of skins, which usually feature a new model, sound effects, and more.

Legendary skins — A full overhaul that makes a champion look completely different, featuring voice lines, spell effects, and new animations for some skins.

Prestige skins — These are rare variants of other skins that are available for a limited time, which usually feature a gold color scheme.

Mythic skins — Available via crafting systems and rare events, these offer exclusive animations, models, and more. 

Ultimate skins — This variant, while pricey, completely overhauls champions that offer ever-changing animations and sounds, as well as some that have their own music tracks and more.

Championship skins — A special cosmetic line of skins that are released every year when the LoL World Championship is ongoing. A slice of the sales made from these is given to the overall prize pool for the tournament winners.

Hall of Legends skins — This is one of the most special skins in League of Legends as they’re meant to honor pro players like Faker, as well as important storylines related to the game’s narrative.

Exalted skins — Known as the highest tier of skins in League of Legends, these offer exclusive voice lines and visual overhauls that eclipse every other type of skin offered in the game. Exalted variants can only be obtained by spending special types of currency and using game systems like The Sanctum.

Again, it’s important to note that these skins aren’t exclusive to League of Legends. Alongside the ability to earn skins inspired by popular esports players and teams, there are also Arcane skins taken from the Netflix series inspired by the game. It’s these examples that prove how in-game cosmetics like skins are crossing over into other types of media, like Netflix.

The most popular skins in League of Legends can vary from different sources, as Riot Games doesn’t release this data. However, in a 2019 blog post, the company mentioned that “the most popular skins of all time are Elementalist Lux, Star Guardian Jinx, and PROJECT: Vayne.”

However, six years later, there have been a lot of skins released since then, so the three mentioned in Riot’s blog post are now likely to be out of date. Therefore, it is hard to determine the most popular LoL skins in 2025 without new data being released by Riot Games.

Players, both pros and non-pros, can own a huge array of League of Legends skins over a number of years. Although there isn’t a number as to who may own the most skins, there are a few champion characters in the game who have more than a few skins that are still sought after.

A pirate captain whose role is of a marksman in League of Legends, Miss Fortune has abilities such as Strut, Make It Rain, Bullet Time, Double Up, and Love Tap, all dealing varying amounts of damage.

In regards to her skins, Miss Fortune has 22, the most out of any champion.

Lux is a support champion who can protect other players in the team from an attack, as well as summon light attacks for enemies that can suffer significant damage.

Currently, Lux also has 22 skins, tying for first place with Miss Fortune at the time of writing.

A nine-tailed fox, Ahri has five attacks that can stop an enemy in its tracks, heal damage, and much more.

Ahri has 19 skins, with the first coming out in December 2011 and the latest, at the time of writing, being made available in October 2024.

League of Legends skins are everywhere in the free-to-play game. They can be earned, paid for, and collected by following the story that Riot Games first established in 2009. They’re not required, but they can help give individuality and personality to every player and esports player.

With over 1,780 skins split into nine variants, there’s plenty of variety for every player to choose from. Nevertheless, skins are a valuable commodity in esports tournaments, and they’re inevitably going to grow as the industry gets bigger over the next few years.

The Saudi Esports Federation (SEF) has officially announced the launch of the SEF Arena, located in Boulevard Riyadh City.

With a total size of 25,000 sqm, the arena will serve as a flexible multi-activity zone for sporting, entertainment and other events.

The venue’s opening was unveiled in the presence of Saudi Esports Federation CEO Turki Alfawzan, Chief Strategy Officer Maha Aloufi, and Esports Executive Director Meshal Alqabbani.

According to a LinkedIn post by the SEF, the arena will have flexible 11,000 sqm esports stages, a broadcast studio for live event coverage, and the SEF Academy, a dedicated section for developing young talents.

Additionally, the SEF arena will be used by the domestic competitive leagues, such as the Saudi eLeague Elites, Women’s League, Fighting League and Challenger League.

Within the venue, the SEF has also opened its Legacy Museum, which highlights the federation’s role in the global gaming and esports industry since its inception in 2017. The museum is open daily from 6 pm until Boulevard Riyadh City’s closing time and can be freely visited.

Driven by Vision 2030, the governmental programme to increase its diversification economically by generating new, non-oil-dependent revenues, Saudi Arabia has been looking to establish itself as an international hub and become a tourist destination across several industries, including gaming and esports.

Aside from investments made in companies such as ESL FACEIT Group and Hero Esports, Saudi Arabia is the hosting country of the Esports World Cup, which recently announced a $70m prize pool for the 2025 edition.

Earlier last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) partnered up with Saudi Arabia’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) for the first-ever Olympic Esports Games. Set to take place in 2025 initially, the event was later moved to 2027 due to ongoing concerns about the format and a lack of details on key aspects of the programme by game publishers.

Despite its efforts in the industry, the Saudi Arabian government has often been criticised due to the country’s human rights record on women and LGBTQ+ communities, alongside claims of ‘esportswashing‘.

Last month, Team Vitality announced the renewal of its partnership with gaming monitor brand Philips Evnia until 2027.

The French esports organisation has been working with Philips Evnia since 2021, making the brand one of its longest-running partnerships so far. Esports Insider spoke to Johanna Remy Pollet, Director of Partnerships at Team Vitality, to discuss the recipe for successful esports partnerships and Philips Evnia’s transformative potential for athletes and fans.

For more than four years, Philips Evnia has been supporting Team Vitality’s growth and competitive performance of its rosters in VALORANT, Counter-Strike, League of Legends and more. With the latest extension, the brand will continue equipping all of Vitality’s twelve teams with gaming monitors.

Pollet explained why extending the partnership was a natural decision: “Team Vitality’s partnership with Philips Evnia has thrived since 2021 due to a strong alignment in values, mutual commitment to innovation and a shared passion for elevating the esports experience.

“It is a collaboration that works well in terms of the relationship and mutual understanding (which is essential for us) as well as the overall value created through this partnership.”.

Pollet further shed light on Vitality’s partnership strategy, highlighting that it is crucial for her organisation to be able to renew their collaborations over such long-term periods. According to her, all of Vitality’s partnership agreements during the 2023/24 renewal cycle have been continued.

Throughout the duration of the partnership, Philips Evnia’s involvement has evolved beyond performance to focus on fan engagement and immersive experiences. Together, the two entities have produced several successful interactive activations and high-quality content pieces, such as last year’s Pixel Perfect Challenge and The Unruly Series, which promotes inclusivity in esports.

In addition, Philips Evnia monitors were part of the 1v1 setup at Vitality’s V.Hive during the 2023 Counter-Strike Major in Paris. According to Vitality, the physical initiative generated 1.4m impressions, 807,000 views across teaser and video content and 619,000 impressions from on-site coverage.

This year, Philips Evnia will be at the core of the esports organisation’s brand campaign with activations that aim to ‘transform the perception of gaming by integrating it fully into the daily lives of gamers beyond the screen’.

“We will also continue to unite our fans around the brand through participatory content and interactive activations during key competitive moments…” shared Pollet. “This concept for 2025 is based on the idea that Evnia and Team Vitality empower players, both competitive and casual, to rediscover their way of playing through performance, innovation, and enjoyment. Every activation and message is built upon the following core values.”

Adding yet another layer to the partnership, Philips Evnia will support Vitality’s mental health initiative, KARE. The project promotes mental health awareness and dialogue through resources, original content and merchandise fundraisers for organisations in the field.

Pollet shared: “KARE quests by Evnia will be integrated in our fan engagement app V.Hive. This integration will raise awareness and promote KARE in a fun and interactive way towards our fans.”

European esports organisation G2 Esports has announced the contract renewal of its star League of Legends player Rasmus ‘Caps‘ Borregaard Winther.

Announced earlier today through a post on social media, the Danish mid-laner will continue to play under the G2 banner until the end of 2027.

Initially contracted until the end of the year, this marks a crucial renewal for G2 and its efforts in the League of Legends scene. According to the Global Contract Database (GCD) by Riot Games, Caps was the only player with a contract running out this year — the remaining four have their contracts until the end of the 2026 season.

Extending the contract of one of the best European talents in the scene shows the organisation’s strong commitment to keeping a competitive roster for years to come. The renewal is also important due to Caps being the face of G2’s League of Legends team.

The Danish mid laner joined G2 back in 2018 after he was picked up from the rival team Fnatic. Storming into the scene as the ‘European Faker’, Caps was known for his impressive laning phase and carry potential.

After a decade of playing competitively, Caps is the most decorated player in the LEC, having won 12 LEC titles with G2 and one international tournament, the Mid-Season Invitational, back in 2019.

Following two strong seasons domestically but bittersweet international results, with two top-16 finishes at the League of Legends World Championship, G2 made key changes to its lineup for the 2025 season.

The organisation replaced veteran support Mihael ‘Mikyx’ Mehle and jungler Martin ‘Yike’ Sundelin with former Team BDS player Labros ‘Labrov’ Papoutsakis and Rudy ‘SkewMond’ Semaan, one of the best rising talents from the tier-two scene.

While still competing at the top of the league, G2 failed to win the opening split (LEC Winter) of the new season, finishing in second place behind French team Karmine Corp. Currently, the team is leading the scoreboard in the LEC 2025 Spring Split with a 2-0 record.

2025 marks a significant year in the history of G2 Esports. This year is the 10th anniversary of the organisation, which has cemented itself as one of the biggest not only in Europe but worldwide. The company recently also completed a seven-figure investment round to enter new esports titles in addition to supporting its existing esports rosters. It looks like Caps was one of the first pieces chosen to lead the organisation into the new decade.

Bangkok saw over 1,200 protesters gather outside of Thailand’s parliament on Wednesday in opposition to the government’s entertainment complex-casino bill. It seeks to capitalise on Asia’s lucrative casino tourism sector.

The draft bill at the heart of the controversy has upset Thai residents after learning of the plan to legalize new casino venues in its recently proposed entertainment complexes.

Leaders of a number of organisations, including the Network of Students and People Reforming Thailand (NSPRT) and the Anti-Casino Alliance, not only voiced their opposition to the bill being delayed, but were demanding the government scrap it entirely.

A point that was reaffirmed by Pichit Chaimongkol, leader of NSPRT, who stated: “Our intention is to completely stop the legalisation of casinos, not just to see the bill’s deliberation delayed.”

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra took exception to the protests, choosing to publicly defend the bill, stressing that not only would casinos only occupy 10% of each entertainment complex, but new casinos would not start being introduced nationwide.

In her response to the protests outside, Shinawatra dismissed the uprising as a “political game” designed to misconstrue the truth and spark wider dissent against one of her government’s key flagship policies.

Despite the protest, Deputy Prime Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong struck a more optimistic tone, insisting that clearer communications were needed to reduce public objections to the bill.

He believes the protesters do not understand the bill’s intent before insisting the government will work on promoting public awareness during the upcoming parliamentary recess.

Nevertheless, the contentious bill also faces political opposition, as Bhumjaithai Party MP Chaichanok Chidchob publicly declared his own opposition to casino legalization: “I will never, ever support the legalisation of casinos.”

Chidchob added his stance was deeply rooted in his own personal and family values.

The fear among the residents and opposition leaders is the belief that state-approved casinos will ultimately have a negative impact on the nation.

They point to the possibility of increased money laundering and criminality, not to mention the potential uptick in problem gambling among Thai nationals. This is despite lawmakers adopting proposals for tougher entry criteria for residents in the bill.

Beyond the civil unrest and outside of politics, religious leaders are also entering the debate, with Archbishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana directly petitioning the government to reject the casino proposal.

As the debate intensifies, Shinawatra and her Thai government will no doubt continue to face mounting opposition to the entertainment complex-casino bill. Whether the bill is scrapped or is eventually passed into law, the clash between the government’s ambitious economic initiatives and intense public sentiment is surely far from over.

The most popular esports games in 2025 reign supreme at various league and non-league tournaments around the world, and it’s easy to see why. Most are free-to-play, lowering the entry requirements for millions of players and letting them into a world full of competitive gaming that could potentially give them a career in the future.

Yet, a range of factors make esports the most popular games. Emerging and existing trends could upend other titles, with brand-new genres entering certain tournaments that would have been unheard of in previous years. Games like Fortnite and PUBG are great examples of this.

However, if you’re new to esports, it could be a challenge to parse what classes are the most-viewed esports games, the most played esports games, and more. 

With this in mind, we’ve created a list of the top 5 esports games, arranged by player base, to lay all this out, as well as examine some of the most significant esports trends of 2025 so far.

League of Legends is a free-to-play MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) that lets you dive into 5v5 team battles, sprawled across huge maps that can only be won by one team.

Developed by Riot Games and released for PC and Macs in 2009, players can use a variety of power-ups and Ability Power (AP) to alter battles in their favor. With over 100 million viewers having watched several tournaments since its debut, League of Legends still leads as the most viewed esports game from players and viewers alike.

New updates featuring game-balancing and content are regularly made available, keeping players’ interests engaged. These help make every match different in its own unique way, surprising players and millions of viewers, which is another reason why League of Legends is still one of the most played esports games in recent times. To many, this makes it the best esports game in the world; however, many of the games listed below would challenge that.

Valorant is a free-to-play first-person shooter (FPS), again developed by Riot Games, and released in 2020 for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. The game pits players in a 5v5 match that lets them select a variety of Agents, such as Controllers, Duelists, Initiators, and Sentinels, all with their unique set of abilities to help each team win the match. Valorant follows similar concepts as League of Legends, which is likely why Riot Games has already experienced a lot of success from the game. It has become one of the most popular esports by viewership with over 1.3 million viewers tuning in to watch the Masters Bangkok 2025 Championship in March this year.

With constant support via monthly game patches and many competitive tournaments, Valorant is already an essential part of the esports industry, offering players a different take on the FPS genre than games like Counter-Strike and Call of Duty offer.

Fortnite, along with PUBG, are games that broke open the battle royale genre for esports and have dominated specific events since their respective releases in 2017. Yet it’s Fortnite that has reigned supreme, with the allure of earning skins and character models with new content updates, repeatedly drawing in new and existing players. Developed by Epic Games, it’s also made its mark in mobile esports, with it being made available on Android devices and making its return to Apple iPhones and iPads in some countries, thanks to new EU rules in 2024.

There were over 2.6 million viewers for the results of the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) Finals in 2024, and with plenty of events that can be viewed every week, Fortnite is a consistent presence in esports.

Counter-Strike 2 is the latest game in Valve’s FPS series, which began all the way back in 1999 and is still touted as one of the games that brought competitive gaming to the masses. Released in 2023 after much anticipation, Counter-Strike 2 has already become one of the most popular esports games, with dedicated tournaments like FRAG and PGL Astana bringing in over $4 million of prize money, as well as over 850,000 peak viewers at events such as BLAST Open.

With its fun gameplay and varied patches, as well as the ability to buy and equip items and skins via the Steam Workshop, Counter-Strike 2 looks set to be a staple of esports tournaments for years to come.

Developed by Valve and released in 2013 for PC, Mac, and Linux, Dota 2 is still one of the most popular esports games for several reasons. For those unaware, it’s a MOBA free-to-play strategy game that, like League of Legends, pits players in 5v5 matches across a huge map that requires a lot of strategic thinking and understanding of the game’s complex yet appealing dynamics to win the battles. 

Dota 2’s biggest esports event, The International, offered a prize pool in 2024 that surpassed $40 million for teams who took part, alongside two million viewers keeping track of the competition. This makes it definitively the highest-paid esports game on the circuit today.

With constant updates and an alluring game pass that also helps fund the prize pools at The International, it’s no surprise that Dota 2 ranks highly among esports games.

Trends and themes in esports have the potential to change at a faster rate than other sports. This can be due to patches that can change the gameplay balance in some titles, new maps and weapons to turn the tide during matches, or completely new games.

In 2025, some of the trending esports games like League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, and Dota 2 continue to dominate the industry, thanks to their free-to-play model and millions of active players. Another aspect is the battle royale games, such as Fortnite and PUBG, allowing players to jump in and reign supreme as the winner out of 100 competitors, becoming some of the most famous esports games in recent years. Both of these games are still thriving, with new modes and new collaborations with creators, movies, and more happening almost every month.

Regarding emerging trends in esports, mobile gaming is already gaining traction, with Fortnite being made available back onto Apple’s ecosystem thanks to the company changing its rules in 2024, allowing others to create their own third-party stores. This has led to Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games, releasing its own in specific markets, with Fortnite available to play. Combined with the millions of Android handsets that also offer games like PUBG and Call of Duty: Mobile, mobile esports could become an even bigger market in the industry soon.

There are also other potential trends, such as augmented and virtual reality (VR) technologies, which could give way to immersive experiences beyond what a monitor can reproduce. For example, games like League of Legends and Dota could let players view the maps in VR or on a living room table through augmented reality glasses.

Ultimately, esports is constantly changing but growing quickly, with all kinds of emerging technology potentially giving way to new ways of playing the largest esports games in 2025.

Esports is an ever-changing industry. The trends are ever-changing, even if some of the most played esports games remain high in players’ most popular esports games lists.

That’s also without mentioning potential trends that could upend how we see the industry today. Technologies like VR, as well as mobile esports that are already growing, could change the business in ways we can’t imagine today.

Ultimately, with esports inevitably on course to be recognized as a sport, in part thanks to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) announcing the Olympic Esports Series for 2027, we will likely see the whole industry change soon, with new answers to the question ‘what are the biggest esports games?’