Starting Nov. 17, 2025, YouTube will update its policies regarding online gambling and graphic violence in gaming, which can affect esports broadcasts of games such as Counter-Strike 2, Rainbow Six: Siege and Call of Duty.

The new ruling now age-restricts content that depicts realistic human characters that “focuses on scenes of torture or scenes of mass violence against non-combatants.”

While some argue that, in the aforementioned games, both teams contain combatants and that they should be safe, YouTube has a history of being ambiguous when it comes to policies like this.

Regarding the online gambling part of the policy shift, this mostly affects Counter-Strike 2 content creators who lean toward its cases, where most gambling starts. It’s unknown if the site will count gacha games or case openings from other games like Overwatch 2 as online gambling. Other videos that feature a social casino site will also not be age-restricted.

Luckily, content posted that violates these policies prior to the implementation date won’t be penalized. However, YouTube clarified that it will be removed or age-restricted. The site is encouraging creators to trim or blur their content so that their videos are not affected by the new policy.

Esports Awards revealed the shortlist of finalists and categories for the 2025’s ceremony and opened online public voting on Oct. 16, 2025.

In 2025, The Esports Awards 2025 features 21 categories, with online voting available for anyone on the ceremony’s official website.

The 10th annual awards ceremony is set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on Nov. 19, 2025.

This year the event sees he Coverage Platform of the Year award category being replaced with the Esports Supporting Platform of the Year.

The Esports Journalist of the Year, a category which was last presented in 2023, is not excluded from the shortlist.

Full list of the nominees for each category at the Esports Awards 2025:

Esports Game of the Year

• Apex Legends
• Counter-Strike 2
• DOTA 2
• Fortnite
• Honor of Kings
• League of Legends
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Pokemon Unite
• PUBG Mobile
• Valorant

Esports Mobile Game of the Year

• Brawl Stars
• Call of Duty Mobile
• Free Fire
• Honor of Kings
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• PUBG Mobile
• Pokemon Unite

Esports Personality of the Year

• Animesh “Thug” Agarwal
• Corentin “Gotaga” Houssein
• Dan “apEX” Madesclaire
• Ibai “Ibai” Llanos
• Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang
• Marc “Caedrel” Robert Lamont
• Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag
• Mossad “Msdossary” Aldossary
• Seth “Scump” Abner
• Kamel “Kameto” Kebir

Streamer of the Year

• Case “CaseOh” Baker
• Darren “iShowSpeed” Watkins
• Emily “ExtraEmily” Zhang
• Félix “xQc” Lengyel
• Ibai “Ibai” Llanos
• Kai”Kai Cenat” Carlo Cenat III
• Marc “Caedrel” Robert Lamont
• Mark “ohnePixel” Zimmermann
• Morgan “AngryGinge” Burtwistle
• Nick “Lacy” Fosco
• Nicholas “Jynxzi” Stewart
• Payal “Payal Gaming” Dhare

Esports Content Group of the Year

• Fnatic
• Gentle Mates
• Godlike
• Karmine Corp
• S8UL
• Sentinels
• T1
• Team Heretics
• Team Liquid

Esports Content Creator of the Year

• Alexandre “gAuLeS” Borba Chiqueta
• Arran “TacticalRab” Francis
• Cody “Clix” Conrod
• Donato “TheDonato” Muñoz
• Jack “NiceWigg” Martin
• Jonathan “JONATHAN GAMING” Amaral
• Marc “Caedrel” Robert Lamont
• Mark “ohnePixel” Zimmermann
• Nicholas “Jynxzi” Stewart
• Raj “Snax” Varma
• Tarik “tarik” Celik
• Thomas “ZooMaa” Paparatto

Esports Breakthrough Player of the Year

• Brock “brawk” Somerhalder
• Derek “Blaz” Blaz
• Jann “Kirk” Kirk Solcruz Gutierrez
• Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski
• Mason “Mercules” Ramsey
• Meng “DaShuai” Jiajun
• Rasyah “Rasyah” Rasyid
• Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan
• Samy “dralii” Hajji
• Sodbayar “Techno4K” Munkhbold
• Zack “Stompn” Lamb

Esports Team of the Year

• AG Super Play – Honor of Kings
• Furia – Rainbow Six Siege
• Gen.G – League of Legends
• Karmine Corp – Rocket League
• LA Thieves – Call of Duty
• NRG – Valorant
• OpTic Texas – Call of Duty
• Team Falcons – DOTA
• Team Falcons – Rocket League
• Team Vitality – Counter-Strike 2
• Team Vitality – MLBB Women

Esports PC Player of the Year

• Brock “brawk” Somerhalder
• Danil “donk” Kryshkovets
• Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto
• Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon
• Jeong “Stalk3r” Hak-yong
• João “Jv92” Vitor
• Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
• Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon
• Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak

Esports Controller Player of the Year

• Anders “Vejrgang” Vejrgang
• Goichi “GO1” Kishida
• Lim “Ulsan” Soo-hoon
• Mason “Mercules” Ramsey
• Miron “Effect” Novikov
• Samy “dralii” Hajji
• Thomas “Scrap” Ernst
• Wyatt “LastShot” Gowan
• Yazeed Abdullah “Kiileerrz” Bakhashwin
• Zeng “Xiao Hai” Zhuojun

Esports Organisation of the Year

• AG.AL
• G2 Esports
• Gen.G
• NRG
• OpTic Gaming
• Team Falcons
• Team Liquid
• Team Vitality
• Virtus.pro
• Weibo Gaming

Esports Coach of the Year

• Alexandre “alecks” Sallé
• Jin “zWy” Changlin
• Julio “Julio” Coelho Neto Giacomelli
• Kim “Kim” Jung-su
• Kim “NineK” Bum-hoon
• Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling
• Malkolm “bonkar” Rench
• Matthew “Satthew” Ackermann
• Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam

Esports Commercial Partner of the Year

• DHL
• Infinix
• Intel
• Logitech G
• Mastercard
• Mobil 1
• PepsiCo
• Red Bull
• Shopify
• VISA
• Zenni

Esports Publisher of the Year

• Electronic Arts
• Epic Games
• Krafton
• Level Infinite
• Microsoft
• Moonton
• NetEase
• Riot Games
• Valve

Esports Supporting Service of the Year

• Bad Moon Talent
• Character Select Agency
• ESG Law
• Evolved Talent Agency
• Heaven Media
• Loaded
• Ocelot Sports
• Prodigy Agency
• Ulti Agency

Esports Supporting Platform of the Year

• Blinkfire
• Blitz.gg
• Discord
• Esports Charts
• FACEIT
• GRID Esports
• Liquipedia
• Mobalytics
• Overwolf
• Shikenso
• Tracker Network

Esports Creative Campaign of the Year

• Team Vitality x Nescafé: Ready to level up
• DHL – eFFiBOT Game: World Championship
• Team Vitality x Aldi: Rising Day
• ALGS x Red Bull: iiTzTimmy + ImperialHal
• Prime Video: Esports World Cup Level Up
• G2 Esports LoL Roster Announcement
• Team Liquid 25 Year Anniversary Campaign

Esports Play by Play Caster of the Year

• Anders Blume
• Brandon “BSmith” Smith
• Clayton “CaptainFlowers” Raines
• Conner “Scrawny” Girvan
• James “Kaelaris” Carrol
• Lauren “Pansy” Scott
• Mark “Onset” Hatcher
• Michael “Yipes” Mendoza
• Miles Ross
• Owen “ODPixel” Davies
• The7WG
• Victoria “VikkiKitty” Perez

Esports Colour Caster of the Year

• Andy “Bravo” Dudynsky
• Andrew “Vedius” Day
• Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill
• Dan “Gaskin” Gaskin
• Isaac “Azael” Cummings-Bentley
• Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson
• Mohan “launders” Govindasamy
• Thomas “Chance” Ashworth

Esports Host of the Year

• Chris “Puckett” Puckett
• Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
• Evan “Raynday” Byron Raynr
• Frankie Ward
• Freya “Freya” Spiers
• Ghassan “Milosh” Finge
• Iain Chambers
• James Banks
• Lauren “GlitterXplosion” Laracuente
• Laure Valée
• Salome “Soe” Gschwind-Repp
• Trevor “Quickshot” Henry

Esports Analyst of the Year

• Emily Rand
• Jack “Fresh” Allen
• Jacob “Pimp” Winneche
• John “JHawk” Harris
• Joshua “steel” Nissan
• Léo “Alphama” Robine
• Mimi “aEvilcat” Wermcrantz
• Robert “Dagda” Price
• Weston “Clutch” Price

Marketing group Esports Business Network (EBN) has teamed up with event powerhouse Wild Unlimited to accelerate the growth of gaming and esports culture in the UAE and MENA region.

The partnership aims to connect Asia’s mature esports markets with the UAE’s rapidly emerging gaming ecosystem, creating cross-border opportunities and promoting gaming as both a cultural and economic force.

As part of the partnership, Wild Unlimited will serve as the exclusive representative and strategic growth partner for EBN and its companies, including The Gaming Company, EBN’s full-service esports marketing agency. EBN, in its turn, will execute all esports and gaming initiatives led by Wild Unlimited across the Middle East.

A key focus of the collaboration is esports and AI education. EBN’s programs, designed to enhance global employability and share industry-relevant skills with students, will now extend to the Middle East. This initiative seeks to create unified industry standards, facilitate cross-border career mobility, and build the next generation of esports and AI professionals.

“This partnership unlocks the next frontier of gaming, esports, and technological expansion for both EBN and Wild Unlimited,” said Adrian Gaffor, CEO of EBN. “With over 20 years of esports experience in Asia and Wild Unlimited’s expertise in experiential events in the Middle East, our goal is to bridge the gap between Asia and the UAE for talent, events, and ecosystem growth.”

The UAE, investing over AED 700 million in gaming infrastructure and innovation zones, and Asia, which accounts for nearly half of the global esports audience, create an ideal environment for high-impact collaboration. The partnership will support community development, youth engagement, brand-led experiences, and both on-ground and virtual esports initiatives.

“Together with EBN, we are laying the foundation for a complete esports ecosystem in the Middle East,” said Sam Shami, CEO & Founder of Wild Unlimited. “From government partnerships to education frameworks and infrastructure development, this isn’t just a partnership – it’s a blueprint for the future of gaming in the region.”

Both companies aim to pioneer the next wave of regional esports innovation, connecting talent pipelines with immersive experiences and strengthening the UAE’s position as a hub for gaming and digital culture.

SNK Corporation announced on Sept. 19, 2025, in a press release that the SNK World Championship 2025 will take place at DreamHack Atlanta from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2. The prize pool of the whole tournament is over $4 million, divided among the four games in the circuit.

While the $4-million prize pool has been at the center of attention on social media, over half of it is allocated to the top finishers of SNK’s latest game, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Here’s the prize pool for each game:

• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves: $2,500,000
• The King of Fighters XV: $1,000,000
• Samurai Shodown: $500,000
• Art of Fighting 3: $100,000

The prize distribution for Samurai Shodown and Art of Fighting 3’s top finishers is divided by logical increments; however, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves and The King of Fighters XV have large variances between placements.

First place for the Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves bracket pockets $1.5 million, whereas second place gets $300,000. The prize distribution hasn’t gone unnoticed online, however, and has been a central talking point in the fighting game community, because they expected a much fairer distribution.

For example, the latest Counter-Strike 2 major tournament, BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, had a $1.2-million prize pool. The distribution was $500,000 to the first place, which constitutes 33% of the whole prize pool, and the second-place team received $170,000, which is 11% of the prize pool.

In the upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves tournament, the first-place winner gets $1,500,000, which is 60% of the prize money, almost double the Counter-Strike 2 major tournament, and the second-place finisher gets a measly $300,000, which is 12% of the total prize pool.

SNK also mentioned that the last-chance qualifiers will happen at DreamHack Atlanta. Two spots remain available for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, one spot for The King of Fighters XV and four slots for Samurai Shodown are up for grabs.

Gaming.News has reached out to SNK for comment.

In a LinkedIn post, Qiddiya chief strategy officer Muhannad Aldawood revealed that the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund-backed company Qiddiya Gaming has fully acquired RTS. This makes it the new co-owner of EVO alongside Nodwin Gaming.

Aldawood mentioned in the post that the purchase allows “Qiddiya to keep fueling the continued growth of Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s largest fighting game event since 1996, with unlimited potentials.”

The fighting game community’s (FGC) reaction to one of the most prestigious tournaments being co-owned by the Saudi Arabia-based company was not positive. Pillars of the FGC, such as Stephen “Sajam” Lyon and Dominique “SonicFox” McLean, have voiced their opinions, with Sajam taking a much more hopeful stance.

In the X post he made, he mentioned that the news just made him want to create more cool stuff for the community and support the grassroots community. Sajam is an FGC commentator for various games and has declined the opportunity to work for the Esports World Cup, as well as an offer to work with the U.S. Army.

SonicFox, on the other hand, is a lot more vocal, saying that the LGBTQ+ community is a core part of the FGC, and that he would simply be “Gayer and Louder than ever as I wave my Trans Rights Flag in grand finals.” SonicFox is an eight-time EVO champion and a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Qiddiya’s co-ownership of EVO, as mentioned above, has not been welcome news for the community. However, a sentiment is currently forming in the community, which involves going back to locals and supporting grassroots tournaments and other large tournaments not related to EVO.

On Aug. 21, 2025, Evo announced that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) had sold its ownership stake in the event to India-based Nodwin Gaming. SIE will remain involved in the event as its global sponsor through 2028.

The SVP and head of global partner development and relations at SIE, Phil Rosenberg, commented on the sale of the ownership stake, saying, “The momentum for Evo has never been stronger, following a successful Las Vegas event and upcoming expansion to new regions” and that they are looking forward to supporting Evo’s growth globally.

Additionally, Qiddiya, a global partner of Evo since 2024, announced that it will invest in RTS, the co-owner of Evo, and extend its partnership with the tournament series through 2027. The CEO of RTS, Stuart Saw, said that its collaboration with Qiddiya will strengthen the future of RTS and Evo.

Nodwin Gaming, the new co-owner of Evo, is a leading entertainment and esports media production company in India. It has hosted tournaments of PUBG Mobile in its home country and has been doing so since 2019.

Evo is one of the leading and longest-running fighting game tournament series in the world. Recently, its Evo 2025 Vegas event drew in fans and competitors from more than 60 countries. Its Japan tournament, Evo Japan, had approximately 30,000 attendees, making it the largest in-person tournament in the country’s history.

The tournament series is also expanding to more countries, with Evo France happening in Nice and a Singapore tournament being held in 2027.

On Aug. 13, 2025, Basilisk announced that they have signed one of the best fighting game players of all time, Justin Wong. The team said that he will be leading the “efforts to discover, build, and captain Science’s FGC Team.”

Abiding strictly by what Basilisk posted, this signing does not necessarily mean that Wong will be competing. He might contribute as a supporting staff member in charge of scouting fighting game players that Basilisk might sign in the future.

According to Basilisk’s website, the organization describes itself as a “science-driven esports org.” Most of the games in which the esports team is active are more into the cerebral part of the spectrum. Games such as StarCraft II, Chess and Kerbal Space Program are three of the titles the team has mentioned.

Adding fighting games into this lineup is not that far-fetched, as Wong mentioned that there’s a little bit of math and memorization included due to frame data being a vital part of the game.

Recently, the esports team bagged a huge win at the Esports World Cup 2025 when Joona “Serral” Sotala won the StarCraft II tournament at the event and took home $200,000. The win also earned the organization 1,000 club points, putting it in 12th place in the club point leaderboard at the time of writing.

Lenovo became the official PC and gaming hardware partner of the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025, according to an announcement on the tournament’s website on July 1, 2025.

Lenovo’s Legion gaming brand will equip EWC athletes with Lenovo Legion Towers, Lenovo Legion laptops and accessories across both training rooms and tournament zones.

The announcement claims that the hardware will feature advanced thermal systems, high-performance silicon, low-latency keyboards, high refresh-rate displays and mice that fit perfectly with competitive gaming purposes.

The supply will include Legion Tower 7i and Legion Tower 5i models for the EWC’s player infrastructure, both equipped with Legion Coldfront liquid cooling. The Legion Tower 7i will have an onboard Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, while the Legion Tower 5i will be powered by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU.

The EWC will also receive Legion Pro 7i laptops powered by Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs and equipped with Legion Coldfront: Vapor thermal systems.

The event will feature 25 tournaments across 24 disciplines. On top of that, EWC 2025 will have the largest prize pool in esports history, with a total exceeding $70 million, while the inaugural Esports World Cup event in 2024 offered $60 million in total prize money. EWC 2025 is set to kick off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on July 8, 2025.

OpTic Texas officially won the Call of Duty League (CDL) Championship 2025 after a back-and-forth grand finals against Vancouver Surge on June 29, 2025. The American team made history by becoming the first, and as of the time of writing, the only back-to-back world champions, having also claimed victory at the CDL Championship 2024.

Dallas’ warriors, OpTic, entered the grand finals having not dropped a single map throughout their run against Atlanta FaZe, Toronto Ultra and Boston Breach. But their perfect 9-0 streak was snapped in the grand finals when Vancouver Surge took a win in the second map, Search and Destroy.

From that point, the series turned into a breathtaking standoff as OpTic owned the Hardpoints, while the Surge dominated in Controls and Search and Destroys. It all came down to a final map, eight Hardpoint on Rewind, where OpTic managed to claim the win.

OpTic Texas Call of Duty’s player roster:

• Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro
• Brandon “Dashy” Otell
• Rookie Mason “Mercules” Ramsay (CDL Championship 2025 MVP)
• Cuyler “Hyke” Garland
• Cesar “Skyz” Bueno

For first place, OpTic took home $800,000 of the $2-million prize pool, while Vancouver Surge received $480,000 for second place, and Boston Breach earned $160,000 for third.

Eastern European team BetBoom (BB) slammed Canadian team Gaimin Gladiators (GG) at PGL Dota 2 Wallachia Season 5, winning the grand finals with a 3-1 score on June 29, 2025.

It is the second time in 2025 that BB has claimed a championship over GG, as on March 30, 2025, they won with a 3-0 score in the grand finals of Fissure Universe: Episode 4, as reported by Gaming.News.

Besides the championship title, BB also took home $300,000 in prize money from a $1-million prize pool. For second place, GG got $175,000, while Team Liquid in third place and Team Spirit in fourth claimed prizes of $120,000 and $80,000, respectively.

BetBoom Team Dota 2’s player roster:

• Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko
• Danil “Gpk” Skutin
• Vitalie “Save-” Melnic
• Matvey “MieRo” Vasyunin
• Vladislav “Kataomi`” Semenov