eSports
TEAM VITALITY WINS VALORANT EMEA KICKOFF 2025
Today, leading esports club Team Vitality was crowned champions at the VALORANT EMEA KICKOFF 2025 at the Riot Games Arena, Berlin. The Bees experienced an amazing playoff run, which saw the team overcome an exciting French derby in the quarter-finals against Karmine Corp, and Turkish powerhouse FUT Esports in the Upper Semi-Finals, ending with an amazing comeback performance in the Grand Final against Team Liquid.
DOMINATING THE TOURNAMENT FROM GAME ONE
Team Vitality’s roster of Kimmie “Kicks” Laasner, Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel, Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko, Felipe “Less” Basso, and Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev put on an emphatic display beating some of Europe’s top teams,.
Team Vitality’s first win came in the derby against fellow French esports organisation, Karmine Corp, in the Upper Quarterfinals, with Team Vitality producing a dominating performance to win 2-1. The Bees then followed up their impressive Quarterfinal win with an incredible performance against one of Europe’s leading teams, FUT Esport, winning 2-0. In the Upper Bracket Final, the Bees brushed aside Team Heretics, with a commanding 2-0 win, including a 13-1 win on Abyss which set up a Grand Final against Team Liquid.
Team Liquid dealt the first blow of the Grand Final, taking Split with a narrow 13-10 victory. The opposition continued their form into the second game, with a 13-7 win on Haven. On Lotus, however, Team Vitality rallied to bite back with a 13-6 win. The Bees continued this form into Bind, where they took a 13-7 win, setting up a grandstand final game on Fracture, where Team Vitality completed a magnificent comeback with a 13-8 win.
THE FIRST VCT TROPHY FOR TEAM VITALITY
This victory marks Team Vitality’s first success of the VCT season—and the club’s first-ever European title on VALORANT. With this win, the team cements its place as one of the top two squads in the EMEA league, securing direct qualification for Masters Bangkok, where the world’s best teams will compete.
By defeating Team Liquid at the Riot Games Arena, Team Vitality sends a clear message: the Bees won’t back down this season. With a roster of international talent from across the globe, the team has a unique opportunity to make history in the FPS scene. Their goal? To leave a lasting mark on esports. Now, the focus shifts to maintaining this outstanding level of performance and securing a spot at the VALORANT Champions in Paris, the club’s hometown, this September.
“This roster is both talented and unpredictable. They leave nothing to chance and have an unshakable determination to win. Our players know they have the chance to write a new chapter in the history of esports and Team Vitality. Winning our first VCT trophy and starting the season like this is an incredible source of pride,” says Fabien “Neo” Devide, President of Team Vitality. “Now, we are ready to showcase our full strength in Bangkok, keeping our ultimate goal in sight: the Champions in Paris.’
New recruit Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev said: ”We were just confident in our maps, I think our map pool is strong. Even though we lost Split and Haven, whh u en we got to the third map we started believing in ourselves, we took it round-by-round and tried not to stress out too much, and it worked!”
Head Coach Daniel “Faded” Hwang said: “One of the biggest things in our team is that they never give up. Sayf is a vibes merchant – he keeps emotions steady, motivates the whole team and creates a positive environment around him, which is a leadership trait I admire in him. Even when we were two maps down, I didn’t stop believing because the team didn’t stop believing, they knew what needed to be done.
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eSports
Emmy-Winning Director R.J. Cutler’s Docuseries Esports World Cup: Level Up Premieres June 6 on Prime Video
Prime Video, one of the leading entertainment destinations, will premiere the five-part documentary Esports World Cup: Level Up on June 6, with new episodes released weekly. Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler (Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, Elton John: Never Too Late and Martha), the series goes behind-the-scenes of the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) in 2024 — a defining moment in global esports, where over $60 million in prize money ignited a high-stakes, multinational battle to crown the world’s top esports Club.
The series is produced by This Machine (a part of Sony Pictures Television), with R.J. Cutler directing, John Dorsey serving as showrunner, and Jane Cha Cutler, Trevor Smith, Elise Pearlstein and Mark Blatty executive producing. Level Up will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Esports World Cup: Level Up offers a rare look inside a global competition that’s redefining what it means to be a champion for a new generation of athletes and fans. R.J. Cutler and his team of expert storytellers embedded themselves within the eight-week tournament – watched by over 500 million fans globally – to uncover the personal sacrifices, rivalries and stakes driving the action.
Shot in verité style, the series combines intimate home visits from around the world and on-the-ground coverage from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It follows a wide cast of characters – from Club CEOs orchestrating million-dollar strategies to rising stars chasing life-changing wins – while capturing the pulse of elite esports competition.
“What drew me to the Esports World Cup was the compelling human stories unfolding within this high-stakes arena. Level Up isn’t just about the incredible competition and prize money; it’s about the dedication, the passion, and the sheer will of these athletes and teams pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Under high pressure, we discover the true character of the competitors who vie for $60 million, but who also expose their humanity in the process,” said Cutler.
At the heart of Level Up is the “EWC Club Championship,” an unprecedented, multi-title tournament format where Clubs compete across more than 20 games, earning points toward a single leaderboard. Every match, every point, reshapes the race for global dominance. With the highest prize pool in esports history on the line, the EWC is not just a tournament – it’s a proving ground for the next generation of sports icons.
“A win might make the headlines — but the real story is the people behind it. Level Up dives into the human side of esports: the pressure, the ambition, the sacrifices. It’s about what it really takes to compete at the highest level — and why it matters. R.J. is the best at bringing those stories to life, and this one captures the heart of what we’re building,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation.
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Esports betting pioneer adds daily fantasy esports offering to its growing range of products, with its sights set on the US market
PandaScore, the award-winning provider of esports odds, data and betting products, has continued to push boundaries with the launch of Daily Fantasy eSports, a truly groundbreaking product for operators and players.
Daily Fantasy eSports has been developed for the US market but will have global appeal with players drawn in by the chance to create virtual teams of real-life players and earn points based on their actual game performances.
Contests range from daily matchups to season-long leagues, with plenty of prizes up for grabs.
PandaScore’s Daily Fantasy eSports is backed by an expert-led esports trading team to deliver fast, accurate settlement data across unique, player-focused markets driven by the provider’s established and proven betting models.
An Interactive Player Widget serves up rich player stats and profiles, with PandaScore’s powerful BetBuilder enabling same-game parlays.
But that’s not all. PandaScore has more than 17,000 players in its esports player age and info database, the largest in the market.
It also offers dedicated helper codes and documentation to ensure smooth and seamless operator integration. It really is as easy as 1-2-3.
1 – There is a kick-off call to align on goals, timelines and fantasy formats.
2 – The operator accesses PandaScore’s dedicated fantasy-focused API to accelerate the build
3 – The dedicated integration manager ensures effortless onboarding and a successful launch
By leveraging PandaScore’s odds and data, alongside its team of experts and specialists, online sportsbook and daily fantasy sports operators can launch faster, ensure accuracy and scale their Daily Fantasy eSports offering with confidence.
Oliver Niner, Head of B2B at PandaScore, said: “Daily Fantasy eSports is a pioneering product from PandaScore that will really hit the mark with operators across North America, as well as other global markets.
“It allows operators to engage esports fans and bettors with a compelling product and proposition, but without the degree of risk that comes with standard betting as the payouts are controlled.
“Daily Fantasy eSports is already live with Dabble and is performing incredibly well, so we look forward to going live with more operators in the coming months.
“This really is a game-changing product, and we can’t wait to see it become available at some of the biggest betting brands in North America and beyond.”
The launch of Daily Fantasy eSports complements PandaScore’s growing esports betting offering, which includes odds and data for a huge number of disciplines, plus betting products like its BetBuilder, MicroMarkets and StoryBuilder.
The post PandaScore launches game-changing Daily Fantasy eSports product appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Esports Charts, a Ukraine-born analytics company that aggregates real-time viewership insights about esports, has won the Esports Innovation Award at the EsportsNext Industry Awards, hosted by the Esports Trade Association (ESTA) in Dallas, US.
The Esports Innovation Award recognizes an organization or individual that has introduced groundbreaking technology, services, or strategies significantly advancing the esports industry.
Esports Charts was honored for its scalable analytics platform, which provides comprehensive tournament and viewership statistics across more than 25 livestreaming services — helping stakeholders from publishers and teams to fans make smarter, data-driven decisions.
“Winning the Innovation Award from ESTA is an important milestone for us as a leading esports analytics service in the world. Also, we’re especially proud to represent Ukraine-born innovation on an international stage.
“From day one, our mission has been to bring clarity and transparency to the world of esports data. And this recognition from the industry is both an honor and a motivation to keep raising the bar.
“Thank you to our incredible team and partners, who believed in us from the start. This award is a shared success — and we’re just getting started,” Artyom Odintsov, co-founder and CEO of Esports Charts.
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