Esports Awards 2026 Finalists Revealed Ahead of November Ceremony

October 2, 2026·3 min read

The Esports Awards 2026 finalists have been revealed ahead of the November 17 ceremony in Miami, with players, teams, games and creators competing across dozens of categories.

The finalists for the 2026 Esports Awards have been revealed, bringing together leading players, teams, games, creators and industry figures ahead of the ceremony in Miami on November 17.

Voting is now open across the announced categories and closes on November 10. The finalist field includes major names from across competitive gaming, with ZywOo, donk, Yatoro, Faker and Magnus Carlsen represented alongside organisations including Team Vitality, Team Spirit, T1 and G2 Esports. iShowSpeed, Kai Cenat, Jynxzi and Caedrel are also competing across the creator-focused awards.

Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends and VALORANT lead the competitive categories

Artwork from Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends and VALORANT appears side by side in an esports game collage. — Valve / Riot Games

Esports Game of the Year brings together 12 of the biggest competitive titles, including Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, VALORANT, Dota 2, Fortnite, Rocket League, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Honor of Kings, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, PUBG Mobile and Rainbow Six Siege.

The separate mobile category includes Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, Brawl Stars and Identity V.

Several of those games are also represented through the player and team awards. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Danil "donk" Kryshkovets are among the Esports PC Player of the Year finalists alongside Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk, Kim "Peyz" Soo-hwan, Chen "Bin" Zebin and others.

Team of the Year spans multiple competitive scenes. Team Vitality and Team Spirit are nominated for their Counter-Strike 2 rosters, while Team Spirit also has its Dota 2 team in contention. OpTic Texas represents Call of Duty, Bilibili Gaming is nominated for League of Legends, 100 Thieves for VALORANT, PARIVISION for Dota 2, Gentle Mates and Team Falcons for Rocket League, and FaZe Clan for Rainbow Six Siege.

Team Vitality, Team Spirit, Team Falcons, T1, G2 Esports, NAVI, Team Liquid, FaZe Clan and several other organisations are separately competing for Esports Organisation of the Year.

Faker and Magnus Carlsen join a broad Personality of the Year field

Two Esports Awards personality finalists pose side by side against a light background. — Esports Awards 2026

The awards extend beyond individual competitive performance, with Esports Personality of the Year bringing together figures from several parts of gaming and esports. Faker is nominated alongside Magnus Carlsen, Caedrel, Jynxzi, Ibai, Kameto, Gotaga, Clix, Boaster, Thug, Shotzzy and Sjokz.

The creator categories have their own overlap. Streamer of the Year includes iShowSpeed, Kai Cenat, Jynxzi, Caedrel, CaseOh, ohnePixel, Cinna, JasonTheWeen, StableRonaldo, Coringa, TheBurntPeanut and Snax Gaming.

Caedrel and Jynxzi also appear in Esports Content Creator of the Year, where they are joined by TenZ, FNS, ZooMaa, NiceWigg, Hungrybox, TacticalRab, mixwell, Gotaga and TheDonato.

Elsewhere, Esports Content Group of the Year includes T1, Team Vitality, Team Spirit, G2 Esports, 100 Thieves, OpTic Gaming, Karmine Corp, Gentle Mates, NRG, S8UL Esports, GodLike Esports and Rocket Baguette.

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Fans can vote until November 10

The 2026 Esports Awards will take place in Miami on November 17, one week after public voting closes.

Most categories combine the public vote with judging from the Esports Awards panel. Community voting accounts for 25% of the result and the panel contributes the remaining 75%.

Several categories are exceptions. Streamer of the Year, Esports Personality of the Year, Esports Content Group of the Year and Esports Content Creator of the Year are decided entirely by the community.

The wider finalist list also covers breakthrough players, coaches, controller players, broadcast talent, tournament organisers, commercial partners and supporting services, giving the November ceremony a field that stretches well beyond the biggest teams and games.