Movistar KOI (MKOI) has avoided elimination by winning 2-1 against Team Secret Whales at the 2025 League of Legends World Championship Swiss Stage.

As a result, the LCP team has been eliminated from the competition, while MKOI has to win one more BO3 to qualify for the Worlds 2025 Knockout Stage.

MKOI battled through all three games, recovering from early losses to dominate key fights and objectives. The team’s coordinated plays and clutch objective steals ultimately secured a 2-1 series win over Team Secret Whales.

In game one, MKOI struck first through Javier ‘Elyoya‘ Prades Batalla’s early double kill and a 2v2 win bot, but the momentum did not last long.

Team Secret Whales chased down the LEC representative and, after a fight in front of the dragon pit, punished risky recalls and repeatedly caught David ‘Supa‘ Martínez García to swing the map in the LCP second seed’s favour. By constantly winning skirmishes, Team Secret Whales steadily built a strong lead in gold and objectives.

MKOI refused to fade quietly, and Joseph Joon ‘Jojopyun‘ Pyun landed a critical four-man Orianna ultimate to keep the EMEA hopes alive. Yet Team Secret Whales tightened its control across the Rift even further as the team reached Soul point, got Atakhan, and then secured both Cloud Soul and Baron. The LCP representative marched towards its opponent’s Nexus and, after one final fight, claimed the win within 34 minutes.

However, Movistar KOI was not ready to be eliminated from Worlds without a fight. 

Despite the LEC team striking early in the second game, Team Secret Whales continued to find flashless targets to punish and pressured the side lanes for towers and Herald, keeping control of the Rift despite MKOI stacking dragons. The LCP representative constantly traded advantages, even as Jojopyun and Elyoya pressed hard for picks around the map.

Nevertheless, it was MKOI that finally found the game’s first crucial fight to secure Atakhan and two towers. Even after MKOI swung momentum in its favour and shattered all three inhibitors, Team Secret Whales clung to life. A second Baron finally gave the LEC representative enough power to close the game and force a decisive final game for Worlds survival.

The third game was highly contested, with both teams trading objectives and kills, keeping the match almost perfectly even through the first 20 minutes. A huge fight near the mid lane swung the momentum in MKOI’s favour, and a crucial Atakhan steal gave the LEC representative the final push to secure the lead in the match’s final game.

Elyoya dominated the jungle with Naafiri and finished 10/0, leading Movistar KOI to a decisive victory that kept its Worlds 2025 run alive.

MKOI are now 2-2 in the League of Legends World Championship 2025, meaning the team faces one final best-of-three to qualify for the Knockout Stage. A win will send the European representative through, where G2 Esports is already waiting. MKOI will need to bring its A-game once again if the team want to keep its tournament hopes alive.

Potential opponents for MKOI include LCP’s CTBC Flying Oyster and FlyQuest, along with other teams currently sitting at either 2-1 or 1-2. The matchups will depend on how the rest of the Swiss Stage plays out, and MKOI may have to navigate another challenging series to secure a spot in the Quarterfinals of Worlds 2025.

For Team Secret Whales, the Worlds 2025 journey ends here. The LCP second seed showed great moves — in and out of the game — throughout the Swiss Stage, but three consecutive losses mean it exits the tournament without a chance to reach the knockout stage.

Following the conclusion of closed qualifiers and regional leagues, the 16 teams competing at The Finals Grand Major 2025, the inaugural LAN event for Embark Studios‘ first-person shooter title.

Teams from North America, EMEA, China, and South Korea will head to DreamHack Stockholm for a chance to be crowned champion of the title’s first official esports tournament and win the lion’s share of a $100,000 (~£74,912) prize pool.

Before the action gets underway, Esports Insider checks out the notable teams to watch during the event.

After becoming one of The Finals’ first partnered teams, ENVY successfully navigated its way to the Grand Major after dominating Group A.

The team topped the group after sweeping aside the 6 Ft Underdogs 2-0 to advance from Stage 1.

As one of North America’s top teams, ENVY is expected to be in contention for championship glory in Stockholm.

After finishing as runners-up in the EMEA closed qualifier under the ‘BEAMERS‘ banner, Fnatic is one of the latest esports organisations to expand into The Finals ahead of the Grand Major.

A two-point haul in Group B sealed the deal for the European roster, which looks to deliver some success for the UK-based organisation.

Having missed out on the top spot to Alliance in the closed qualifier, the Grand Major acts as a chance for the team to cement its place at the top of the international scene.

Instead of using online closed qualifiers to determine which teams qualify for the Grand Major, the second circuit of the Korea National League decided the region’s sole representative.

The Final Descendants completed an impressive run through the lower bracket to earn a place in the Grand Final against Honey Badger. The best-of-seven series went the distance, with The Final Descendents emerging victorious to qualify for the Grand Major.

The Korea National League used the Final Round game mode instead of Cashout to decide its winner. A change of format at the Grand Major could catch the team off guard but after fending off plenty of strong opposition in the qualifier, The First Descendants could be an underdog capable of causing some upset results.

Battlefield 6 is the most successful release in the history of the series. And beyond the hype, there’s clearly plenty of triple-A action to enjoy. That’s why it sold seven million copies in its first week, and also why it continues to ride high in the Steam Charts. But the best Battlefield 6 Portal experiences offer even more.

Because EA’s latest FPS title provides impressive flexibility for online multiplayer, this includes custom experiences that could easily be missed. That’s what we’re doing here, then, looking at the game modes beyond the eight standard options: the best modes, created with the community in mind, providing even greater enjoyment.

Battlefield 6 Portal is a returning feature, allowing committed BF6 fans to create custom experiences using Battlefield assets. It first arrived in the less adored Battlefield 2042, allowing players to create and modify existing game (mode) experiences, while using assets from Battlefield Bad Company 1942, Battlefield 3, and Battlefield 2042 itself.

Portal is back in Battlefield 6, although if you’re looking for it alongside the Battlefield 6 game modes, you’ll need to look for a separate menu option called ‘Community’. Once selected, you can scroll down to see a limited selection of experiences. Otherwise, you’ll want to select ‘Search Experiences’ or ‘Browse Servers’ for a more in-depth look. 

We’ll return to the best BF6 Portal experiences below. But what if you want to create your own custom experience for Battlefield 6? You can do that. You’ll need to head to this Battlefield Portal 101 page for a bit of information on how the creation works. Then, you can log in using your EA credentials (the link is in the article) and start creating. 

The creator will ask you to select a verified game mode (Conquest, Rush, or Breakthrough). Or you can choose ‘Default’ to create a more customised experience. Once you do, you’re into the settings, where everything from map rotation and team settings to gameplay, soldier, vehicle, UI, and bots settings is available. You can even create and modify rules.

Although Battlefield 6’s Portal creator may be a little daunting, there’s no need to use it at all. If you want to play experiences created by others, or to ramp up your XP, you can do just that. But which do you choose? To help you out, here are our best Battlefield 6 Portal options, based on our own experience and enjoyment.

One thing that may be unfamiliar to non-Battlefield players in Battlefield 6 is how to pilot jets. More than a decade after Battlefield 4, the age-old dispute can be seen in conquest chats: “Don’t fly jets if you can’t.” The obvious reply arrives, “How do I learn to fly then?” Obviously, vehicles are for everyone in Battlefield, but Ace Pursuit offers an option for wannabe pilots. 

Essentially, Ace Pursuit is a race. Three players each are provided a jet at the start of the round, and the goal is to complete an aerial course, set out by floating markers, first to win. But even without winning, this is a great way to learn jets in BF6. Do take note, though, even if your manoeuvres are on point, you can be shot and rammed from first to third. 

Yes, that’s right, 5000 tickets. If regular Conquest’s 1000 tickets feel too few, then this is the mode for you. Except there’s more going on here apart from a longer game time. If you want to lock in for a longer experience, you can, but know that this experience has friendly fire, a faster vehicle spawn rate, and only aircraft are available. 

Adding to the hardcore nature of this experience, no stingers or javelins with automatic lock-ons are allowed, meaning your team will need to laser tag aircraft to bring them down. Class-locked weapons are assured. And the final key element? A limited HUD, meaning you’ll need your wits about you, and the experience for extended, brutal BF6 warfare. 

Who needs infantry distracting from a good old Battlefield dogfight? Or objectives to worry about focusing on? This experience does exactly what it says, providing 32 players with the chance to practice flying choppers or jets. However, unlike Ace Pursuit, there’s no racing here. It’s a playground for hovering, soaring, shooting rockets, and just hanging out. 

The additional win here is that the map chosen for this experience is Operation Firestorm. This large-scale map has the space and landscape to provide an open flying experience for novice pilots. However, there are pipelines, warehouses, and silos here. So if you want to practice your dodging in and out or peeking from behind cover, you can. 

Exfil is one of the Battlefield 6 ‘official’ Portal experiences, and it’s a lot of fun. As the name suggests, this is an exfiltration-focused mode. It’s also one of the few times where traversing rooftops is actually intended in BF6. You and your squad need to collect the package and get it to the extraction point. That sounds far easier than it is. 

Not only is this a ‘parkour’ focused mode where rooftop clambering is key, 15 other players (or, if needed, bots) want to do the same. With weapons limited to SMGs, shotguns, and pistols, and maze-like route knowledge key, this is a great departure from ‘standard BF6’. The only downside is that it appears to be available on rotation, so you need to be quick to catch it.

Battlefield 6 is more than the game modes you may be familiar with. And if you’re waiting for the Battlefield 6 Battle Royale Mode to emerge, why not try something different with Battlefield 6 Portal? The custom, modified, and unique experiences it offers really add value to an already top triple-A title. 

The variety of available options caters to vehicle fans, pilots, hardcore experience lovers, and more. If you don’t find something that you like, you can always have a go at creating and publishing your own Portal experience. If there’s a modified mode that you and your friends want to see, and it’s not already out there, you can give it a go.

Sentinels has officially parted ways with its controller Sean ‘bang’ Bezerra ahead of the 2026 VCT season.

The American player served the organisation for a year and helped it achieve two second-place finishes in the regional league.

“Today we say goodbye to bang. It was only a year, but it felt like so much more,” Sentinels posted on X (Twitter). 

Bang hasn’t revealed which team he will be joining next, and Sentinels hasn’t announced his replacement either.

“I want to thank Sentinels for the opportunity and all my teammates and coaches for working as hard as they did and making my time there such a great experience,” tweeted the player.

After a successful 2024 season, during which the American organisation lifted its second VALORANT Masters trophy, 2025 was comparatively underwhelming. Despite reaching the Grand Final twice in VCT Americas, the team couldn’t convert those runs into victories.

In addition to this, it struggled to find much success at international VCT events and didn’t win even a single series at VALORANT Champions Paris.

Reflecting on the season, bang said: “It’s hard to look back on this year and to not be disappointed, but it’s only made me more motivated than ever to improve and succeed next time.”

It is unclear whether additional changes to the team are in the pipeline. However, Rob Moore, CEO of Sentinels, revealed that the organisation is trialling players from its academy team, Cubert Academy.

The team’s head coach, Adam ‘kaplan’ Kaplan, and other staff members will evaluate the players to finalise the squad for 2026.

Valve has released its latest Counter-Strike 2 update, which reintroduces the official Retakes game mode and allows players to trade up for knives and gloves.

The update to the first-person shooter title also features other changes, including adjustments to the Inferno map.

Published on October 22nd, 2025, the Retakes mode involves players dropping into a 4v3 post-plant scenario using limited resources and weaponry to either defuse or defend the objective.

In addition to the mode, the update also features changes to Inferno, aiming to improve visibility at the top of Quad and underneath the Balcony.

Another change from the update is the extended functionality of the title’s Trade Up Contract. Players can exchange five Covert items to earn a guaranteed knife or a pair of gloves.

As a result of players having greater opportunities to earn the rarest skins, the CS2 skin market has lost over $1.75bn (~£1.3bn) in value following the change.

Elsewhere, further optimisation improvements have adjusted “Molotov and Smoke interaction logic when multiple smokes are active on the map.”

The return of official Retakes servers has been overshadowed by the significant change to the Trade Up Contract, which has impacted the value of several high-tier cosmetics.

“Counter-Strike rugged its entire community,” said former Head of YouTube Gaming, Ryan ‘Fwiz’ Wyatt. “They just rinsed everyone in the market who had anything of any value.”

While many members of the community have criticised Valve’s decision, others say that the change is much needed.

“The market manipulation that was happening and driving prices to the point where people couldn’t buy them without investing an insane amount of money to get a nice skin is out of hand,” commented American CS2 player and streamer Erik ‘fl0m’ Flom.

With CS2’s skin marketplace continuing to fluctuate, it’s unclear if it stabilises or falls further as players make the most of a new way to obtain knives and gloves.

Ninjas in Pyjamas has announced Marco ‘Snappi‘ Pfeiffer will return to its Counter-Strike 2 roster for PGL Masters Bucharest 2025.

The Danish in-game leader was set to miss the event due to the birth of his second child.

The Swedish esports organisation had made plans for Snappi’s temporary absence, naming Tim ‘susp‘ Ångström as a stand-in for the event taking place from October 26th to November 1st, 2025.

“Christmas came early for Snappi,” said Ninjas in Pyjamas on social media. “He recently welcomed his second baby into the world! With that, we’ll be heading to PGL Bucharest with our full roster.”

A full-strength Ninjas in Pyjamas competing at PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 is a positive for the organisation, which aims to continue a strong run of form. Its CS2 roster finished second at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025, losing to NAVI in the Grand Final.

Ninjas in Pyjamas opens its PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 campaign against HEROIC on October 26th. An early win in the Swiss stage could spark momentum that builds into a deep run in the tournament.

The team’s match against the Norwegian esports organisation is the third time the two have competed against each other.

Having competed on the cusp of Major qualification throughout the majority of 2025, Ninjas in Pyjamas booked its place at the StarLadder Budapest Major, securing the 13th seed in Europe’s Valve Regional Standings (VRS).

Currently 18th in October’s global VRS, the team has shown signs of improvement as it heads into the final Major of the year. Ninjas in Pyjamas won the most recent encounter against HEROIC at IEM Cologne 2025, winning 2-0.

PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 is the first Tier 1 event for Ninjas in Pyjamas since July, when it competed in Cologne. The team scored a top-12 placement, falling to NAVI in the Group B lower bracket.

NRG’s Sam ‘s0m’ Oh has announced that he’ll take a break from competing following his victory at VALORANT Champions 2025 earlier this month.

Instead, s0m is looking to focus on content creation across Twitch and YouTube, while watching and supporting NRG’s competitive efforts during the 2026 VCT season.

“I’ll be taking a break. Definitely not forever. I think I’ll just be taking a break from competing. I’ve been doing it for basically ten years now,” shared s0m in yesterday’s announcement video.

“I’ve been doing it since I was 14. And I think that with the recent Champions win, what better time than now to kinda just take a break.”

Initially hailing from the Counter-Strike competitive scene, s0m transitioned to VALORANT esports in 2020, the same year he joined NRG. He’s been actively competing for the North American esports organisation ever since, except for a nine-month hiatus between 2023 and 2024.

This year, s0m and NRG had a slow start to their VCT season, with the team failing to qualify for both Masters events. However, an unexpected second-place finish in VCT Americas Stage 2 secured NRG a slot at VALORANT Champions 2025 in Paris.

In France, the roster continued to defy expectations, emerging undefeated from the tournament to lift the coveted Champions trophy.

“Just looking back at the year, I’d like to think that everything happens for a reason,” s0m reflected.. 

“We went through a lot of ups and downs with different rosters […] But I truly don’t think that without all the experiences that I’ve been through – not just this year but all the past years – I would be where I am today.”

He also thanked all his fans and team members for their continued support throughout his time in esports.

“Honestly, it is a little bit selfish, I think, of me, but I know you guys will do great with whoever you guys pick up…” the player emphasised. 

“Adam (mada) and I have talked about it, but when you win with a team, it’s truly a different kind of love. I’ll be talking about them for a while, and I don’t know if I’ll ever stop, to be honest. If you guys stop working as hard as you did with me, I’m gonna come back and I’m gonna whip all you guys into shape. So don’t do that.”

Last night, s0m went live on Twitch to shed further light on his decision to step away and what the future holds for him and his community.

“There was no better time for me than after Champs to really pursue content creating. […] I’m gonna put in hella work into content creating. I think winning as a Champ, especially with the team, was probably like the best thing I could have asked for to kinda end my career,” highlighted the NRG member.

He admitted that he’d been thinking about taking a break several times throughout the year and further explained: “You guys might say ‘retiring at 23 is crazy’. Forget the age. Just competing for eight, nine, ten years in general, knowing that you have content creating, as well, it’s a pretty hard decision to make.”

With his primary focus now on content creation, s0m plans to stream “every single day”. Moreover, he promised to co-stream NRG’s upcoming matches and support his former teammates in their competitive efforts.

Sportradar Group AG has officially received a gaming-related vendor license from the UAE’s General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA).

This new license, which became effective immediately on October 21st, 2025, enables Sportradar to provide its technology, data, and integrity services to licensed operators in the UAE’s newly regulated commercial gaming market.

The GCGRA, an independent regulator of the UAE federal government, has exclusive jurisdiction for gaming. As such, it has licensed Sportradar as part of a licensing wave intended to both promote innovation and ensure strong integrity standards in the nation’s nascent gambling sector.

Sportradar follows over a dozen global suppliers like Aristocrat, IGT, and Novomatic, now prepared to offer in one of the fastest-growing markets globally.

Sportradar’s entry will provide local operators with sophisticated data analytics, real-time integrity monitoring tools, and sports betting solutions from more than 20 years of experience.

“Sportradar looks forward to bringing its 20-plus-year expertise and proprietary sports technology to operators and clients in the region,” the company stated, highlighting its track record of partnerships with top-tier sports leagues globally, including the NBA, UEFA, and MLB.

By October 2025, the GCGRA had given 17 licences to companies that supply gaming equipment, one licence for a lottery and one casino license for Wynn Resorts’ project on Al Marjan Island. The authority had not yet granted any licenses to companies that run online games or sports books.

Officials chose to move forward in small, deliberate steps so that the new industry starts on solid ground and stays under tight control.

Sportradar’s decision marks a clear push into the Middle East and matches the UAE’s plan to turn itself into the main centre for commercial gaming.

The firm’s arrival should lift day-to-day working standards and give local partners the tools they need to satisfy worldwide demands as the market changes.