The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has issued an interim suspension to players, coaches, and staff representing Counter-Strike 2 team SENZA, also known as Rosy.

ESIC says the suspension is in relation to alleged breaches of its anti-corruption code and code of conduct.

In a release published on October 10th, ESIC revealed the suspension ‘applies to all ESIC Member Events and any tournament adopting ESIC’s integrity program.”

The decision to issue an interim suspension follows the start of the investigation that is also investigating the alleged use of outside information during matches, betting-related misconduct, and alleged account sharing.

The interim suspension will remain in place until the conclusion of ESIC’s investigation into the allegations or until the Commission decides to lift it.

ESIC’s involvement follows SENZA launching its own investigation into former player Kirsan ‘byek’ Ivanov following allegations of account sharing. As a result, the organisation fined the player approximately $30,000 (~£22,494) and removed him from the roster.

In late September, SENZA dropped the remaining players in favour of a new roster unveiled on October 3rd. ESIC has specified that the roster dropped in September is the subject of its ongoing investigation.

Prior to ESIC launching an investigation into cheating, ENCE’s CS2 analyst posted several annotated clips indicating the team was cheating in some capacity.

GamerLegion coach Ashley ‘ash’ Battye also shared his concerns surrounding the alleged cheating taking place in Tier 2 CS2 tournaments.

“It can’t keep happening. Genuine rosters die when these losses happen. I’ve made roster changed in the past when we’ve lost to blatant cheaters and lost all confidence in the way we play. We have to do better.”

If SENZA is found guilty of breaching ESIC’s code of conduct and anti-corruption code, it could issue severe punishments. In April, the Commission issued a lifetime ban to Swedish CS2 player Joel ‘Joel’ Holmlund after breaching the code of conduct eleven times.

VALORANT is changing forever in Patch 11.08, which is scheduled to release on October 15th with V25 Act VI.

The updates announced will affect abilities, gunplay, and maps, with the aim of increasing the overall skill ceiling, forcing players to adapt to an entirely new playstyle.

With these updates, it could be dubbed the beginning of a new era in VALORANT. As such, Esports Insider has detailed everything announced below.

Players will now be able to see further while nearsighted, allowing them to counter such abilities more effectively. Notably, this change applies across all Controller agents. Stim abilities have also been slightly toned down to give opponents a fairer chance during fights.

Moreover, concussion durations have been made uniform across all agents, while the fragile effect from Astra’s Gravity Pull has been reduced from 5 to 2.5 seconds. The cooldown for all rechargeable abilities has also been increased to 60 seconds for every agent.

Omen’s Paranoia will now cover a smaller area but travel faster, compensating for the reduced impact range. Lastly, players walking through Viper’s Pit, Poison Cloud, or Toxic Screen will experience less instant HP decay.

Similar to Controllers, nearsighted vision has been increased to seven metres across all roles, and stun durations will now be consistent for all agents except when using ultimate abilities.

When KAY/O’s ultimate is active, gunfire will behave similarly to Brimstone’s Stim Beacon or Reyna’s Empress. Cooldowns for rechargeable abilities are now 60 seconds, and all flash durations have been standardised to 2.25 seconds.

Gekko’s cooldown after reclaiming abilities has been increased, and its Wingman and Thrash now have lower HP. Breach, on the other hand, will have a faster wind-up time for his stun, and his ultimate will now require only eight points.

Vyse’s Razorvines now have reduced HP to allow better counterplay. Her ultimate covers a smaller area and takes longer to activate, while her flash will no longer play a hit confirmation sound cue.

Sentinel barriers have also had their HP and costs reduced. Killjoy’s turret HP has been lowered, and the reactivation delay upon re-entering its range has been increased. However, the turret will now slow enemies more effectively.

Cypher’s tripwires will no longer concuss enemies and will instead only slow them down.

Along with the standardisation of concuss and stim effects, Yoru’s Gatecrash HP has been reduced, and a sound cue will now indicate whether his teleport is real or fake. He will only be able to use his teleport ability during his ultimate. The maximum duration of his flash has been reduced to 1.5 seconds.

Neon will be able to sprint for longer, though her fuel will recharge more slowly. Waylay and Iso are also receiving nerfs. Waylay’s abilities will now hinder players for only three seconds, and both agents will have smaller areas of effect.

Waylay’s ultimate will wind up faster but grant a more minor movement speed buff.

Protected bullets are being adjusted to make shooting more predictable across all weapons except the Guardian. Spray patterns are also being refined to make recoil slightly easier to control. The Spectre’s tap fire has been improved, while the Stinger’s spray will now kick in sooner.

Abyss’ B Site and Mid are receiving layout changes, alongside Pearl’s B Site. Check them out below:

Patch 11.08 will be a massive turning point for VALORANT and its competitive scene. However, since these updates arrive during the Off//Season, teams should have enough time to adjust strategies and refine gameplay before the 2026 VCT season.

100 Thieves has been crowned Marvel Rivals Ignite Stage 2 Americas champion after defeating ENVY in the Grand Finals.

Following the tournament’s conclusion, the last four teams have been decided for the Marvel Rivals Ignite Grand Finals later this year.

100 Thieves had a lot to prove in this tournament after placing runners-up in Ignite Stage 1 and third in the Mid-Season Finals.

It began strong in the Group Stage, topping its respective group with a 4-0 win/loss ratio, outperforming other rosters such as DarkZero and Sentinels.

The Playoffs saw 100 Thieves on top form, ending 3-1 back-to-back against Dreamland and Mid-Season runner-ups ENVY. The team then qualified for the Grand Finals after defeating FlyQuest in the Upper Bracket Finals.

The Grand Finals saw a BO5 showdown between 100 Thieves and ENVY, a team that managed to claw its way back from the Lower Bracket. After five intense matches, 100 Thieves prevailed as the champions of Ignite Stage 2 Americas.

Here is a full breakdown of the Grand Finals match between 100 Thieves (100T) and ENVY (NV):

100 Thieves took home the lion’s share of the $250,000 (~£186,200) prize pool, in addition to one of four qualification spots at the Ignite Grand Finals world championship.

It has qualified alongside ENVY, FlyQuest, and DarkZero. The previous Ignite Stage 1 Americas champion and Mid-Season Finals participant, Sentinels, has not made it to the event in DreamHack Atlanta after placing sixth out of 16 teams.

With Americas concluding Stage 2, all teams have now been confirmed for the international event.

Only time will tell which team will come out on top and claim the biggest prize pool to date for Marvel Rivals, $1m (~£744,700).

On October 11th, 2025, tournament organiser PGL announced it had cancelled a Counter-Strike 2 event set to take place in August 2026 due to a scheduling clash with another tournament.

The tournament organiser adhered to Valve’s tournament rulebook, publishing its schedule for future events in March 2024.

Despite this, PGL opted to cancel the event altogether. Esports Insider takes a closer look at why the organiser has decided to scrap next August’s event.

In a post, PGL states that the decision to cancel its August 2026 event “follows another tournament being announced at a later date that overlaps with ours,” leaving it struggling to attract the world’s best teams.

The tournament that overlapped with the cancelled event is the Esports World Cup 2026, taking place from August 12th to 23rd.

CS2 is one of several titles featuring at next year’s Esports World Cup. The tournament has been expanded for 2026, featuring a bigger lineup of 32 teams, a $2m (~£1.5m) prize pool and a longer run-time.

Additionally, the Esports World Cup will distribute a total of 28 invites based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS). This, combined with its huge prize pool, makes the event operated by the Esports World Cup Foundation a more attractive prospect to esports organisations looking to attend high-profile competitions.

This isn’t the first instance of PGL having to adjust its existing event schedule to cater for other Tier 1 events taking place in close proximity. In September, it altered the date of the PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 Grand Final, allowing teams to attend its event and IEM Chengdu 2025.

PGL still intends to run four CS2 events as part of its 2026 calendar, with tournaments taking place in Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Astana, and Belgrade between February and November. The location of its October event has yet to be revealed.

The 2025 League of Legends World Championship is almost here, and to herald its beginning, Riot Games has launched the tournament’s anthem ‘Sacrifice’. 

Celebrating the 15th anniversary of LoL Esports, the 2025 Worlds anthem is performed by G.E.M. and revisits some of the most iconic moments in the game’s history. Weaving together clips of iconic players and unforgettable plays, the anthem is the “purest expression of hype, fandom, and love,” according to Andres Cerro, Senior Brand Manager for LoL Esports, in an interview with Esports Insider. 

Released just hours before the start of the tournament after last-minute production changes, the anthem and its video are a tribute to the players and fans who sacrifice everything for this sport.

Speaking to Esports Insider ahead of Worlds 2025, Cerro and Mike Potter, Creative Director for LoL Esports, discuss the making of this year’s anthem, the creative process behind its universal theme, and its ode to League of Legends esports.

The 2025 League of Legends Worlds campaign centres on the tagline ‘Earn Your Legacy’. For Cerro and Potter, the connection between this theme and the anthem’s title was natural.

The Rioters said that throughout Worlds’ history, League of Legends’ anthems have celebrated courage, resolve and dedication — qualities that define professional play.

“Sacrifice is one of the means to achieve legendary status,” Cerro continued, adding that the song’s message reflects the real-world dedication required to reach the top. 

“You have to sacrifice a lot through time and opportunity, dedicating yourself to a sport that demands everything. But the reward is becoming part of cherished memories for millions of players around the world,” concluded Cerro.

Potter added: “It takes everything just to make it to Worlds. That alone is something worth celebrating and honouring.”

Both agreed that the concept of legacy is extended beyond championship trophies and can reach anyone who’s part of this ecosystem. 

“Legacy can be earned in many different ways — in play-ins, on broadcast, through unforgettable moments. Not everyone wins, but many leave their mark,” Potter said, explaining why certain players are featured in the music video even though they have never lifted the Summoner’s Cup.

The goal was to “put a stake in the ground” about what legacy means at League of Legends Worlds through a collective memory built by pros and fans alike over fifteen years.

This year’s music video takes the celebration beyond Runeterra. Set in outer space, the video reimagines iconic Worlds moments as cosmic events, culminating in pictures of LoL Esports’ greatest players, fans and teams.

Potter said the decision to set the video in space was “two-pronged.” On one hand, the team wanted a new creative environment that stood apart from previous years. On the other hand, space offered a natural setting to “dramatise” the scale of LoL Esports’ 15-year legacy. 

Cerro added that space gave the video both scale and meaning, letting the team celebrate 15 years of LoL Esports with a broader perspective. He explained that while previous anthems focused on a tournament or a player’s career — like RISE or GODS — this year’s music video highlights the sport as a whole.

The cosmic setting also gave the designers creative freedom, using nebulae and constellations to hide Easter eggs and references throughout the video, some of which are really one-frame stop obscure.

Potter said the constellations’ concept became a metaphor for how the community remembers the game, a “timeless story” written in the stars about memories that “last forever.” 

The 2025 Worlds anthem recollects as many memories as stars in the sky, with Sacrifice recording the most easter eggs hidden in a Riot video. 

While Riot couldn’t include every iconic moment of the past 15 years, Potter estimates the music video has “over 70” Easter eggs for fans to hunt for.

One unmissable reference is the picture of Maciej ‘Shushei’ Ratuszniak lifting the Summoner’s Cup. He passed away in April 2025 after battling cancer, but he has been immortalised as one of the first players to win the first World Championship.

While the video highlights the players and their legacy, Cerro said that fans are just as important as they are the ones who made League of Legends esports “the biggest esport on the planet.”

“They create countless memories through their passion for the game by attending live events, streaming matches across time zones, sharing content, and showing support in ways that extend far beyond the game itself,” he highlighted. 

For Riot Games, the Worlds anthem is “the purest expression of hype fandom and love” for the fans. He also mentioned how, when creating the song and music video, Riot does not expect to recoup any of the investment spent on it.

“There’s no way to monetise something like this,” he said. “It exists to reward and delight fans — to give them something meaningful to remember at the start of the tournament.”

Neither the song nor the video is expected to bring in revenue, nor is its success judged on financial return. Instead, Riot Games measures this by how well it engages viewers and resonates with the community by tracking fan reactions across multiple platforms and languages. This also includes surveying audiences on the music, artist choice and overall story. 

Cerro said the team also monitors online discussions to see which elements of the video connect with fans and how the messaging lands across different regions. “We want to know if fans are feeling the story, the tone, and the excitement we tried to capture,” he said. 

Following Riot’s postponement of the anthem and its reasoning behind it, many fans and pros alike raised criticism about the anthem music video, and this will likely continue as the video goes live.

Yet, Cerro said he doesn’t feel the need to respond to criticism before it happens. Instead, he encourages fans to take a step back and consider the global scope of League of Legends esports. 

“When something doesn’t match your personal taste, ask yourself: is this made just for me, or is it meant to reach fans on the other side of the world, or those who are new to the game?” he prompted. 

Cerro emphasised that the anthem has to connect with fans everywhere, not just a few. Particularly on the 15th anniversary, he believes it’s worth remembering how “diverse” the fandom is, brought together by shared memories but shaped by “unique points of view.”

“That’s why sometimes certain creative choices, certain players, or certain angles might not resonate with you personally,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it’s wrong — it’s designed to celebrate the whole community, from longtime fans to newcomers.”

Fifteen years after the first League of Legends World Championship, the event remains one of the defining spectacles in esports. Through music, visuals and storytelling, ‘Sacrifice’ captures not only the scale of that history but also the spirit that keeps it alive.

In 2025, Worlds once again asks its players to earn their legacy — one sacrifice at a time.

Red Bull India has announced the Red Bull Solo Legends event, the largest Battle Grounds Mobile India (BGMI) tournament in the country.

The event is set to include multiple phases — including an online and offline stage — for grassroots and professional players.

Registrations for Red Bull Solo Legends will be open through its official webpage until October 31st, 2025.

Competing players will battle it out in a solo queue format, progressing through multiple rounds of qualifiers from November 5th to 16th. Only a select few will survive to the regional finals, running from November 20th to 23rd.

The top players will then face off against some of India’s top BGMI professionals in the Nationals Finals on December 2nd.

The overall winner will be crowned India’s best solo BGMI player and will earn an exclusive Red Bull Racing experience.

According to a release, the Red Bull Solo Legends tournament will include top BGMI athletes such as Jonathan ‘Jonathan Gaming‘ Amaral, Tanishk ‘Admino‘ Singh, Ashutosh ‘Punk‘ Singh, Sahil ‘Omega‘ Jakhar, among others.

Red Bull Athlete Jonathan Amaral commented: “Red Bull Solo Legends is the perfect stage for players to showcase those skills and prove what they can do without relying on a team.

“I’m really excited to be part of this format and see which players rise through the ranks to claim the title. It’s time for India’s solo players to take the spotlight.” 

The tournament is the latest endeavour by Red Bull to expand its presence in the Indian esports scene.

The brand has hosted previous tournaments such as Red Bull M.E.O (Mobile Esports Open) earlier this year, which included BGMI as one of its featured titles. It has also collaborated with other Indian esports organisations, such as GodLike Esports, and has onboarded Indian talent like Jonathan Gaming.

Red Bull has also made huge strides in esports this year across various titles and regions. It has partnered with organisations such as T1, Los Ratones and G2 Esports to hold its Red Bull League of Its Own 2025 event. Earlier this year, Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing and Rokt teamed up to launch an all-female sim racing team for the British F4 Esports Championship.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Professional League (MPL) Malaysia has teased a new collaboration with the upcoming sci-fi film Predator: Badlands.

MOONTON said in a release that, as a part of this, MLBB and the Predator universe will “intersect across multiple touchpoints.”

While full details of the partnership haven’t been announced, players can expect official live broadcasts and an exclusive fan screening of the film. Predator: Badlands is set to be released on November 6th. Therefore, further details should be announced later this month.

This partnership comes after MPL Malaysia’s similar crossover with Tron: Ares, which wrapped up on October 5th. This included an offline activation at the MPL Malaysia Season 16 arena.

“Predator: Badlands is the league’s second crossover with a major Disney franchise this season (the first being TRON: Ares),” said Krystal Tan, Head of Business Development for Malaysia Esports at MOONTON Games. “This is a testament to how MPL Malaysia and esports have evolved into cultural mainstays that resonate deeply with today’s youth.”

These collaborations come as MPL Malaysia ditches its legacy promotion and relegation league format to adopt a franchised model from 2026 onwards. The developer has stated that the region will receive an ‘enhanced’ franchise format, suggesting that it may differ from the current MPL structures in the Philippines and Indonesia.

“As we prepare for an ‘enhanced franchised format’ next season, this partnership represents the bold, creative direction we’re taking to elevate both the fan experience and the ecosystem as a whole,” added Tan.

“We’re already beyond competition in esports; now, we’re aiming to be Malaysia’s number one sports entertainment product for young people.”

With MLBB celebrating its ninth anniversary this month, the game also recognised a line-up of 13 top Malaysian creators through a slogan: the Children of MLBB.

It is headlined by Muhammad ‘Soloz’ Faris Zakaria, whose life story was the inspiration for the movie Game of Life.

Other creators include Muhammad ‘LitharaLala’ Farhan, Mohammad ‘Makdi‘ Hamdi, Amirul ‘Feekz‘ Shafiq, Andi ‘Peakhyung‘ Alfian, Ding ‘DJY‘ Jia Yong, Muhd Bisyar ‘Yennete‘ Al Hafii, Wan Nur Adibah ‘Dibo‘ Humairah, Fahri ‘Ombong‘ Haha, and more.