A game, a competitive team, and a streamer can all receive an Esports Award. Each trophy recognizes a different contribution to competitive gaming and the entertainment surrounding it. The comparison with the Oscars works at that level: an annual awards show brings several kinds of achievement onto one stage, with performers and people working behind the scenes sharing the attention.
The 2025 ceremony, reported by GamesMarket, marked the awards’ 10th anniversary. It included honors for games, players, teams, organizations, creators, and broadcast talent. Together, those categories describe how esports reaches an audience: someone develops the game, competitors play it, commentators explain the action, and creators build their own entertainment around gaming.
The category names help explain the Esports Awards 2025 winners list: League of Legends received the game award, Team Vitality’s Counter-Strike 2 roster won the team award, and Team Falcons took the organization honor. These recipients represent different parts of competitive gaming, even though their trophies belong to the same ceremony.
What the Different Trophies Recognize
A game award identifies the title in which competition takes place. Its recipient is the game itself, rather than an individual player or a particular lineup. Mobile games have their own category, so the awards also distinguish between kinds of competitive titles.
A team is a group of players competing together in a particular game. Its lineup of players is called a roster. The game attached to the team’s name identifies which roster is being recognized. Team Vitality’s winning designation specifies Counter-Strike 2, directing the honor to that competitive unit.
An esports organization operates teams under a shared name. Its name may appear across several games, while each roster has its own players and competitive record. Organization and team awards recognize those different levels. A player award narrows the focus further, identifying an individual contribution within competition.
The publisher award introduces another distinction: a game and the company releasing it are separate recipients. Riot Games received the 2025 publisher honor. Publishing covers bringing a game to market, while the game category identifies the title itself. The award therefore names a different kind of organization from the one operating competitive teams, even when both companies contribute to the same competitive activity.
These labels also explain why an awards result and a tournament result mean different things. A tournament produces a champion through matches. An annual award recognizes achievement within its stated category, bringing several games and kinds of work into one program.
Selected Winners From 2025
The individual competitive honors included Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut as Esports PC Player of the Year. The mobile game honor went to PUBG Mobile.
Streaming and content creation occupy a different part of the program. IShowSpeed won Streamer of the Year, while Jynxzi received the esports content creator honor. Streaming describes a live format, where the audience experiences a broadcast as it happens. Content creation is a broader description of making entertainment or commentary for an audience.
The content group trophy went to S8UL, giving a collective its own recognition alongside individual creators. A content group brings people together to make content; a competitive roster brings players together to compete in a particular game. The two awards identify different work, even when both recipients have a team name. Group recognition adds another layer to the individual streaming and creator honors.
Broadcast awards recognize another set of contributions. Laure Valée won Host of the Year, Clayton “CaptainFlowers” Raines received the play-by-play caster award, and Andrew “Vedius” Day won the color caster category.
A caster is a commentator. Play-by-play follows the unfolding action; color commentary adds interpretation and context. A host guides a broadcast’s presentation and conversations. Analysts examine competitive decisions and performances, adding a more detailed assessment of how a match was played. These roles help turn a competition into a show that an audience can follow. Host of the Year is one of the broadcast honors, alongside the awards for commentary.
Across these categories, the recipient’s role supplies the context. A player’s trophy identifies competitive achievement; a commentator’s award recognizes the work of following and explaining that competition to an audience.
How the Winners Are Chosen
Community voting and an industry panel contribute to deciding the 2026 winners. The announced finalists form the shortlist for those honors; the recipients will be revealed at the ceremony.
The 2026 Ceremony
The 2026 ceremony is scheduled for November 17 in Miami, with public voting open until November 10. The announced finalists include returning 2025 recipients: League of Legends appears in the game category, Team Vitality’s Counter-Strike 2 roster in the team category, and ZywOo among the PC player nominees.
The 2026 team shortlist makes that roster distinction visible: Team Spirit has separate entries for Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2. One organization’s name appears twice because two of its competitive teams are nominated.
The returning names put past recipients on a new ballot. Their 2025 trophies record completed results; their 2026 nominations place them in contention again, with the winners still to be announced.
Jynxzi is nominated for both Streamer of the Year and Esports Content Creator of the Year. The same person appears under two descriptions of their work. Streaming and content creation remain distinct awards, even when their nominees overlap.
