Kim Kang-hui, better known as Roach, has played an influential role in T1’s remarkable success in League of Legends.

The talented 26-year-old served as coach as the team won back-to-back world championships in 2023 and 2024.

And fans hope that he’ll return to the fray once he has completed his military service within the next couple of years.

In our analysis of Roach’s net worth, we chart his gaming career and reveal how much he has earned from tournaments and other sources of income.

His full name is Kim Kang-hui. He’s a South Korean involved in League of Legends and is 26 years old at the time of writing in October 2025.

He was most recently a coach on the T1 team before announcing his temporary departure in November 2024 to fulfil his military service obligations.

We’ve based our estimate of his net worth on the $41,411 prize winnings from playing League of Legends over the past decade.

Roach’s total career haul was made over the course of seven years from 15 tournaments, according to Esports Earnings. 

The most successful year was 2020, when he took home $12,797 from two events. This accounts for almost a third of his overall winnings.

His least successful year came in 2022 when he earned $1,490.11, although he was transitioning into coaching around this time.

Roach will have received a salary for his role as a coach at T1, but it’s difficult to gauge as exact figures aren’t publicly available.

The amounts will depend on experience and success, as well as the financial health and status of a particular team.

In a 2022 interview, Nick “LS” De Cesare, a prominent figure within League of Legends, suggested head coaches could earn up to $200,000. 

However, coaches are likely to be paid less than top esports players, whose salaries can be around the $187,000 market, according to the Influencer Marketing Hub.

It’s also understood that Roach has streamed on Twitch in the past. Many gamers earn an income in this way, although actual figures aren’t released.

Roach appears to favour a life out of the limelight and is not thought to own any businesses or hold major investments. 

Very little is known about Roach’s early life, apart from the fact that he was born in South Korea on January 31, 1999.

In late 2015, he joined NaJin e-mFire, a professional South Korean League of Legends team, when he was just 16 years old. Shortly afterwards, it rebranded to Team Kongdoo.

As far as prize winnings are concerned, this period of his life was one of his most lucrative, with $15,567 earned in two years.

Roach earned $5,283.50 from three tournaments with Gen.G Esports that took place between late 2018 and the end of August 2019.

He then moved to the T1 team, where he earned $13,718.05 from three tournaments, including first place in the LCK Spring 2020.

A further $6,842.11 was won as part of T1 Challenges from two events in 2021 and 2022. This included top spot in the LCK Challengers League 2021 Spring.

Roach has achieved the most success in his role as a coach with various T1 teams between 2022 and 2024.

In late 2022, it was announced that Roach would become one of three coaches working with Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong in the 2023 season. 

It proved to be a wise move as he served as coach during a successful patch that saw two world championships and an Esports World Cup achieved, according to Liquipedia.

The team took the 2023 title in South Korea by beating Weibo Gaming 3-0 in the final, with reports stating that T1 looked “a step above” its opponents.

The following year, T1 emerged victorious once again by beating Bilibili Gaming in London’s O2 Arena in an event watched by a peak audience of more than 6.9 million people outside of China.

However, Roach’s time as a coach hasn’t been totally stress-free. In early 2022, while a T1 Challengers coach, he ran into trouble.

It was reported that he would be suspended for four games in the 2022 LCK CK Spring Split and fined three million Korean won after tampering with a contracted player without their team’s permission.

As Roach doesn’t appear to have a big social media presence, it’s unclear how he has been spending his money in recent years.

However, his career and earnings potential are currently on hold as he completes mandatory military service in his home country.

In November 2024, it was announced that Roach would be putting everything on hold while he completes his mandatory military service.

Under current laws, all able-bodied South Korean men over the age of 19 are obliged to serve, according to the Korea Times.

The report explained that the length of military service has been reduced from 30 months to between 18 and 21 months.

The actual time will depend on where individuals serve. It’s 18 months in the Army or Marine Corps, but 20 months in the Navy and 21 months in the Air Force.

In a statement, T1 said: “Today, we part ways with coach ‘Roach’ so that he can fulfil his social service duty. We sincerely thank him for his passion and dedication as both a player and coach for T1 over the past five years. 

“His leadership, especially over the past two years, has been an inspiration to team members and instrumental in leading T1 to become World Champions. 

“We express our deepest gratitude for his unwavering efforts to improve the team, and we look forward to seeing him again in good health.”

Roach also issued a video statement expressing his gratitude to everyone at T1 and to the fans who have supported him in his various roles.

He said: “I’ll be stepping away for a while to fulfil my duty, so it’s with a heavy heart that I announce my temporary departure. With all my experiences as a pro player and coach combined, T1 has become the team I’ve been with the longest. 

“Over these past two years, being with the best team, alongside the best players, head coaches, coaches and all the staff, who provided endless support, has been an incredible journey, especially in these winning moments.

“From my start as a player to now as a coach, it feels so meaningful to have been able to truly help the team. It’s been an unforgettable time for me. And to the fans who have supported me from my days as a player all the way through to my time as a coach, I’ve truly had a lot of fun and felt so much happiness because of you. Thank you so much.”

It’s not known whether Roach supports any particular charities. However, his T1 team has supported several causes.

For example, it recently donated ₩63.74m (~£37,500) to Make-A-Wish Korea through proceeds from its special edition WishMaker jersey sales.

Previously, the team has been involved with campaigns for UNICEF and for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Roach may have made his name in League of Legends, but his net worth pales in comparison to the biggest stars in esports.

His modest career earnings of $41,411 are significantly below the $1.9 million won by Faker.

However, even Faker is poor in comparison to Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, who has won almost $7.2 million from playing Dota 2 tournaments.

Kim “Roach” Kang-hui may not have earned a multi-million-dollar fortune from esports, but he’s certainly enjoyed a great deal of success.

As a T1 coach, he was instrumental in helping the team secure back-to-back world championships in 2023 and 2024.

But any hope of adding a third title has been put on hold for now as he completes at least 18 months of mandatory military service in South Korea.

The latest reminder of North Carolina’s descent came Monday, as the Tar Heels eked into the the preseason men’s basketball AP poll with a No. 25 ranking.

Coach Hubert Davis is on the hot seat, and a former national champion for the Tar Heels doesn’t mince words when it comes to the program’s future.

“It’s a whole revamp, a whole rebuilding situation down in Carolina,” said Rashad McCants, who won a title with UNC in 2004-05. “The culture of college basketball has changed with the NIL. Michael Jordan needs to throw some money in there. (Jerry) Stackhouse, Vince Carter, all these guys that are alumni. They say it’s a brotherhood. You’ve got to offer the bread.”

“These kids want to know why they should go to Carolina. The tradition is no longer where it was. We were winning through our talent and our recruiting, and now the standard of Carolina basketball is ‘Come play, graduate, then go on to play overseas ball.’ Getting back to understanding how to get recruits to your university – you’ve got to start throwing some money around now.”

Davis went just 23-14 last season in his fourth year as coach and expectations for the Tar Heels are muted again this year, as they are no longer among the perennial national championship contenders of yesteryear.

“Hubert Davis, as good as he is, it’s an outdated system,” McCants said. “You need to get some fresh blood in there that understands what these kids are looking for, while also maintaining the integrity of the game – playing hard, playing smart and playing together. I don’t know who that is, but there definitely needs to be a change, and it has to happen fast.”

McCants said certain programs have made a smooth adjustment to the NIL era, while North Carolina and others have tried to rely on their tradition rather than becoming proactive with NIL.

When asked if North Carolina has a sense of entitlement, McCants said that was “100 percent” the case.

“And that goes for the Kansases and Kentuckys of the world,” McCants said. “‘We are who we are. You should want to come here.’ The parents are now doing a better job of vetting programs, seeing where they’ve been and where they’re going.

“It’s at a place where you have to adjust, and they brought it on themselves about not understanding what to do with the structure of the NIL.”

McCants points to recent champions like Villanova and UConn as traditionally strong programs that have successfully made the transition to the new college basketball landscape.

“The guys that win – Villanova, UConn – these are people that have always done right by the players, the university and the integrity of the game,” McCants said. “And now with NIL, you can throw the money around. You don’t have to hide your hands anymore, bring in the falsified documents.

“Now that everything is moving the way it’s been moving, you’ve got to adjust. There hasn’t been any adjustment by certain programs, and you can tell, because they haven’t won since.”

North American esports organisation M80 has rebranded, resulting in the return of its previous logo.

The rebrand comes a year after the organisation underwent its first logo change as part of a wider refresh.

Revealed on social media, the new M80 logo resembles the shape of a smoke grenade and is a return to the organisation’s roots following its creation in 2022.

Alongside the logo change, the organisation has already teased the creation of a new merchandise collection, having asked its fans for potential suggestions.

M80 currently competes in Rainbow Six and Counter-Strike. Its Counter-Strike roster, currently ranked 37th in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), has qualified for the StarLadder Budapest Major taking place in November, cementing its position as one of North America’s top teams.

In addition to the rebrand, the organisation’s Vice President of Esports has teased a return to VALORANT esports. In May, M80 announced its departure from the title’s Challengers ecosystem after struggling to qualify for VCT Americas.

Rebrands continue to inject a breath of fresh air into various brands across the esports industry. In September, Call of Duty League franchise Atlanta FaZe rebranded to FaZe Vegas ahead of the upcoming season.

2025 has been a year of turbulence for M80, however, the organisation continues to attract new partners, resulting in growth. In February, it released its Rainbow Six coach and Team Manager after the pair received lengthy suspensions following an altercation at the Six Invitational.

In March, the organisation partnered with AI platform Omnic.AI to use its tool to support its in-person coaching efforts across its esports rosters and programmes.

The final quarter of the year looks to be a busy one for M80. In November, its Rainbow Six roster will compete at the BLAST R6 Major Munich 2025, with the winner of the event directly qualifying for the Six Invitational 2026.

Reigning League of Legends world champion T1 has secured a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Invictus Gaming in the Swiss Stage qualifying round for Worlds 2025 to qualify for the main event.

The 2025 League of Legends World Championship kicked off with a thrilling LCK vs LPL match, full of fast-paced fights, smart plays and dramatic comebacks.

Leading into Worlds 2025, anticipation had been high for this first match. T1 aimed to prove it is still the team to beat after strong performances to qualify for the tournament. Meanwhile, IG entered Worlds hoping to return to its former glory and make a deep run, backed by its resilient — but inconsistent — regional performance. 

The two historic teams have already seemingly set the tone for the rest of the tournament, playing in a do-or-die match, as one loss meant the end of their Worlds 2025 campaign.

According to Esports Charts, the opening match of Worlds 2025 drew over 2.5 million live viewers, setting a new record for opening-day viewership and showcasing the global excitement for the return of T1 and IG.

The match between T1 and IG set the tone for Worlds perfectly as each game saw shifts in momentum, with both teams trading kills, objectives and towers. Even when IG had early leads, T1 showed resilience and smart decision-making, turning fights in the team’s favour. The final game (game four) was especially intense, with heavy teamfights and key objectives deciding the result. Yet once again, T1 proved that the Worlds stage, no matter where it is, League of Legends’ biggest esport event of the year will always be its turf.

The series started with fast action as both teams fought over early objectives and jungle control. IG gained advantages through aggressive plays, securing early kills and the first dragon. Yet T1 responded with calm and coordinated teamfights, countering dives and punishing IG’s overextensions to take important objectives and win the first game.

However, IG swung back in the following game. After a slow start, IG focused on aggressive plays and teamfights to take control of the Rift. Once dragons were secured, IG’s players picked off key T1 members. The team’s proactive and aggressive macro kept T1 under pressure and led IG to win the game and tie the series.

In the final two games, IG kept on fighting aggressively, taking early objectives and forcing several contested fights. Nevertheless, T1’s superior teamfighting, smart resets, and clutch plays around Baron and dragons kept the LCK fourth seed in control.

Despite IG swinging gold and securing key kills at moments, T1 consistently won crucial teamfights and objectives, ultimately closing both games with precision and securing the series 3-1.

T1 will face LTA North’s top seed, FlyQuest, considered one of the stronger teams from the West. Fans can tune in tomorrow to watch the first round of the League of Legends Worlds 2025 group stage.

With T1 kicking off League of Legends Worlds 2025 with a victory over Invictus Gaming (IG) in the Play-Ins, the first Swiss Stage match-ups have now been drawn. 

The event, taking place in China, features a range of tantalising BO1 matches, including an LPL vs LCK clash and two rough games for FlyQuest and 100 Thieves.

After sealing a 3-1 victory against China’s fourth seed IG, T1 will commence its Swiss Stage journey with a match against LTA 2025 champions FlyQuest. Meanwhile, 100 Thieves, in its final run in League of Legends esports, will have to stand toe-to-toe with LPL Split 3 champion Bilibili Gaming (BLG). 

Interestingly, the latter match-up is somewhat of an EU vs NA game, with BLG’s jungler, Zhao ‘Shadow’ Zhiqiang, being the first European to win an LPL trophy.

Perhaps one of the most enticing match-ups from the round one Swiss Stage draw is LPL vs LCK, as second seeds Anyone’s Legends and Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), respectively, will clash on day one. Whilst T1 is looking to secure historic back-to-back-to-back World Championships, the organisation’s former top laner, Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je — now playing for HLE — will also be looking to achieve this feat. 

For European League of Legends fans, its three teams have seemingly walked away with a good draw, albeit still against difficult challengers. The hardest draw sees G2 Esports face off against LPL’s Top Esports, whilst Fnatic will clash with LCP Season Finals champion CTBC Flying Oyster. MKOI also faces a difficult challenge, as the Spanish organisation will face LCK third seed, KT Rolster. 

The full League of Legends World Championship Swiss Stage Round One draw is as follows:

The League of Legends World Championship main event kicks off tomorrow (October 15th) with the Swiss Stage. Featuring a mixture of BO1 and BO3 matches, teams need to defeat three opponents to advance to the Knockout Stage. Matches will kick off at 6am BST, and fans can tune into the event live on YouTube and Twitch. 

Over the past decade, the League of Legends World Championship anthems have evolved from songs celebrating the competition to a cultural moment. Each year’s release captures the stories that define competitive League of Legends, and in 2025, “Sacrifice” by G.E.M. continues that tradition, blending music and memory into a tribute to every pro, fan, and moment that shaped the game’s history.

In an interview with Esports Insider, Riot executive producer Mike Potter shared that there are over 70 hidden references for fans to uncover. “The 2025 Worlds anthem recollects as many memories as stars in the sky,” describing Sacrifice as the Riot video with the most Easter eggs ever created. 

We’ve divided the Easter eggs into four categories: players, champions, teams, and fans, casters, and more.

While we have collected over 70 Easter eggs in this article, some still eluded us. 

Some players appear more than once throughout the video. Fans have noted that the lineup focuses heavily on recent years, drawing criticism for the lack of broader representation across regions. The old Russian region (CIS), CBLOL, OCE, NA, and LLA are not directly featured, with most spotlights given to stars from the LCK, LPL, and LEC.

Other cameos: 

Most champions appear through the pros who made them famous, with a few—such as Azir and Aatrox—also shown briefly in stylised or cartoon sequences.

The video’s cosmic setting hides dozens of visual nods to League’s competitive and cultural legacy, from team logos to symbolic constellations referencing iconic plays.

Valve has revealed details on a Counter-Strike 2 pre-release update that features adjustments to the title’s defusal mechanics.

The update, currently in beta, also features changes to the game’s engine code and its user interface.

The version 1.41.3-rc1 update went live in the CS2 beta depot on October 14th, 2025. As a pre-release update, Valve is able to continue adjusting various elements of the title before it is released in a public build.

Valve’s pre-release update is the first wave of changes since October 2nd, when the developer added two new maps to its Competitive mode.

The most notable addition within the update is a change to defusing mechanics. While a player is defusing, the weapon viewmodel will lower and prevent the defuser from scoping while the action is taking place.

Additionally, Valve had added a 150ms delay to firing the weapon after a player has stopped defusing, which could impact clutch situations during competitive play.

Alongside defuse changes, the update has updated the title’s engine code to the latest version of Source 2 and improved the core utilisation of various effect processing in a bid to reduce CPU usage when a player is firing a weapon.

If Valve applies the changes from the pre-release update, the defusal changes could significantly impact how the world’s best players approach a post-plant scenario.

The current build of CS2 allows players to fire instantly after tapping the bomb to fake a defuse, meaning the potential addition of a 150ms delay could prevent defenders from attempting to use a fake to draw out any remaining attackers.

Since the release of the update, the community has criticised the defuse delay. “Performance fixes are actually sorely needed,” said one fan. “No AWP scope and firing delay after letting go of defuse is just lowering the skill ceiling, though. Please reconsider.”

Considering the update is still in its pre-release phase, there is a chance Valve could make further adjustments before releasing it at a later date.

October 7 marked the next phase of 2XKO, Riot Games’ free-to-play fighting title, going from closed beta to early access. This means the launch of its first season pass, Season 0, along with an 11th character. So far, the reception has been highly positive from players, commenting on how well the tag system works, as well as the fighting mechanics.

2XKO is only currently playable on PC, despite Riot Games confirming the game will be coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X. But this is clearly a sign that the developer wants to get things right before the title launches on these consoles. Nevertheless, we’ve been playing 2XKO in early access this past week, and we’re sharing our initial thoughts below.

2XKO’s closed beta began on September 16 and ended on October 7, changing into early access for the foreseeable future. From what we saw during that period, the 2XKO beta was hugely well-received by players, remarking how similar 2XKO is to Street Fighter 6 in gameplay mechanics and framerate. This is high praise for any fighting game, so Riot Games must be pleased with this feedback. Players have been warming to the attacks, counters, and more since September 16.

Combine this praise with the amount that’s been available since the closed beta’s debut, such as the many 2XKO characters available to play, the fresh balance patches based on the feedback that players have been giving Riot Games, and it’s clear that 2XKO could be special.

The gameplay does indeed remind us of Capcom’s Street Fighter in its fluidity and controls, but it also reminds us of Dragon Ball FighterZ, from Arc System Works. Despite that title having a 3v3 tag system, the intensity of the special attacks, dependent on how many ‘levels’ you’ve built up, can change the trajectory of any match. You’ll also want to see how the special attacks from each of the 11 champions from the 2XKO roster play out. They’re all very fun to do, and only add to the replayability of 2XKO, even in this early state. Nothing feels overpowered, nor does anything feel like it’s out of scope for new players. Thanks to the helpful Practice Mode, which guides new players by showcasing movesets and more for 2XKO, anyone can join.

Playing online is also a great time right now. Joining a match wasn’t an issue, and playing 2XKO on Wi-Fi and 5G connections didn’t result in a session being too laggy or frustrating to play. But this is Riot Games, they know how to create and maintain online modes, much like it has for League of Legends and VALORANT, so we’re not surprised.

But the main mechanic of 2XKO, the 2v2 tag system, is a big highlight in the game. Combining characters like Vi and Jynx in matches can give you new ideas about how to use them. As we head into the full game version, which is likely when we’ll see 2XKO arrive on PS5 and Xbox, we’re expecting even more characters to hone in on the 2v2 mechanic. Right now, though, gameplay-wise, the game feels polished enough, so we can’t help but think Riot Games may as well open up the floodgates for console players to join in on early access.

Overall, we’ve come away impressed with 2XKO. Everything at this point feels like it’s been worked on and refined constantly. Riot Games set high expectations with players since it was known as Project L, way back in 2019. With many characters to choose from, as well as the ability to use a variety of special attacks, all at a stable framerate, 2XKO has all the hallmarks of being a standout game once it inevitably starts appearing at some worldwide esports events.

2XKO’s graphical style is cel-shaded to the hilt, but feels very smooth. It harkens back to titles like Marvel vs. Capcom 3, as well as others like Sega’s Jet Set Radio. Everything feels like it’s straight out of a comic book, and we barely experienced any significant slowdowns during our time in early access. Every texture looks sharp, and the animations when fighters perform their special attacks are fantastic.

There’s not a great deal to say here other than Riot Games has managed to make 2XKO set itself apart in the fighting game genre, especially when you consider it alongside popular esports games like Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6.

Compared to how much Bandai Namco bodged its relationship with Tekken fans due to the mess of Tekken 8’s Season 2 pass earlier this year, Riot Games is on somewhat of a roll so far with 2XKO. Our experiences with the closed beta and early access versions of the game mirror those of other players, thanks to the fun mechanics and variations all the characters offer.

Considering the success Riot Games has had, and continues to have with League of Legends and VALORANT, players weren’t expecting much from 2XKO. But it’s proven many wrong, with players now hoping to see the game appear on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X soon. As things stand, Riot Games has done well with 2XKO, and if it keeps this momentum going, the game could be a juggernaut at many esports events in 2026.

Age of Empires tournament Red Bull Wololo is heading to London for its eighth edition, titled Londinium, in 2026.

The event will run from April 1st to 6th, 2026 and will feature two different titles — Age of Empires II and IV.

The tournament will culminate with the Grand Final on April 6th at the Royal Albert Hall, in front of an audience of over 3,000 fans. The location for the Playoffs has not been disclosed by the organiser.

“Legends will rise when Red Bull Gaming’s Red Bull Wololo returns in 2026! Competitors from across the globe will descend on Londinium (London) to clash across centuries in AoE II: DE and AoE IV,” Age of Empires tweeted.

Red Bull Wololo: Londinium will kick off with the Group Stage from April 1st to 3rd, followed by the Playoffs on April 4th and 5th. Check out the format below:

In the end, the winner will walk away with the trophy and $50,000 (~£37,687) from its $170,000 (~£128,136) prize pool. 

Tickets for Red Bull Wololo: Londinium will go live on December 3rd; however, those unable to travel to London can catch the action live on Red Bull Gaming’s Twitch and YouTube channels.

The 2024 edition of Red Bull Wololo: Age of Empires II saw Hamzah ‘Hera’ El-Baher dominate the entire event, snatching the title away from Ørjan ‘TheViper’ Larsen with a 5-1 scoreline.

Hera is having a tremendous year so far, as he won four Tier 1 events in 2025, including Warlords IV and The Garrison.

It will be interesting to see if he can carry over his momentum into the latest edition and claim two back-to-back titles.

Rainbow Six Siege X developer Ubisoft and tournament organiser BLAST have revealed that the R6 North American League Regional Finals will take place in Philadelphia, US.

From November 29th to December 14th, 2025, the six best teams from the region will compete for a guaranteed place at the Six Invitational 2026 in Paris.

The tournament will feature two phases. The online quarterfinals will be played in a BO3, double elimination format from November 29th to 30th. Meanwhile, the second phase will include both the semi-finals and finals from December 13th to 14th, and will be a LAN event at the LocalHost Philly venue.

Teams will compete for the lion’s share of a €100,000 (~$115,550/£86,940) prize pool: with first receiving €40,000 (~$46,220/£34,800).

These are all the teams that will be competing in the North American League Regional Finals:

Tickets for the LAN event in Philadelphia are available for $20, and can be obtained through the Nerd Street webpage. All matches will also be broadcast live on the official Rainbow Six esports Twitch and YouTube channels.

The BLAST R6 North American League Regional Finals is one of the pathways that offers a guaranteed spot in next year’s international event. Regional Finals will also take place in the Europe MENA League, South America League, and Asia Pacific League. A final spot will also be up for grabs in the Munich Major in November.

The Six Invitational 2026 in Paris, France is the crowning event of the scene. This is where the best team in the world is decided, before kickstarting the next season of R6 esports.

Running from February 2nd to 15th, 2026, the event will see 20 teams from around the world compete. These include the Regional Finals champions, the Munich Major winner, the Regional Last Chance Qualifier winners, and the top-scoring organisations from the Global Point Standings.