The Esports Awards announced the first wave of finalists for the 2026 edition on its official X account on Thursday. An industry panel and fans worldwide vote to honor the most notable player, team, broadcast talent, and sponsor across all competitive gaming. The deadline for the fan vote
through the website is November 10th, and the winners will be announced at the ceremony on
November 17th in
Miami, Florida.
The announcement revealed the shortlist for
nine categories. Compared to
the 2025 edition, we could expect around twelve more categories to be announced, including Esports Breakthrough Player of the Year, Esports Play-by-Play Caster of the Year, and Esports Controller Player of the Year, among others.
Notably, several personalities from the
League of Legends sphere have been nominated for the Esports Personality of the Year category. Names like Lee “
" Sang-hyeok, Karmine Corp’s owner Kamel “
Kameto" Kebir, Ibai “
Ibai" Llano, Marc “
Caedrel" Lamont, and Eefje “
Sjokz" Depoortere are among the nominees.
As the 2026 competitions conclude, the nominated winners, distinguished rookies, broadcast talents, content creators, and campaigns that defined the year will be revealed. The following categories have been revealed.
Esports Game of the Year
- Counter-Strike 2
- League of Legends
- VALORANT
- Fortnite
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
- Rocket League
- Honor of Kings
- DOTA 2
- PUBG Mobile
Esports Mobile Game of the Year
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
- Honor of Kings
- PUBG Mobile
- Free Fire
- Brawl Stars
- Identity V
Esports Personality of the Year
- Kameto
- Jynxzi
- Gotaga
- Caedrel
- Faker
- Ibai
- Clix
- Boaster
- Thug
- Shotzzy
- Magnus Carlsen
- Sjokz
Streamer of the Year
- Jynxzi
- Caedrel
- IShowSpeed
- TheBurntPeanut
- Kai Cenat
- ohnePixel
- CaseOH
- Coringa
- JasonTheWeen
- Stable Ronaldo
- Cinna
- Snax Gaming
Esports Content Group of the Year
- Gentle Mates
- Optic Gaming
- Rocket Baguette
- Team Spirit
- 100 Thieves
- G2 Esports
- Karmine Corp
- NRG
- S8UL Esports
- T1
- Godlike Esports
- Team Vitality
Esports Content Creator of the Year
- Jynxzi
- Gotaga
- Caedrel
- ZooMaa
- FNS
- TacticalRab
- NiceWigg
- Mixwell
- HungryBox
- TenZ
- TheDonato
Esports Commercial Partner of the Year
- Red Bull
- Razer
- Intel
- Logitech G
- Monster Energy
- Blacklyte
- Chipotle
- Coinbase
- IQOO
- Pulsar
- Sony Inzone
Esports Tournament Organiser of the Year
- ESL FACEIT Group
- Riot Games
- BLAST
- EVO
- Esports Foundation
- Hero Esports
- Moonton
- Activision Blizzard
- TiMi Studio Group
Esports Supporting Service of the Year
- ESG Law
- JAM Management
- Prodigy Agency
- The Story Mob
- Character Select Agency
- Esports Charts
- FACEIT
- Odin Law and Media
- Shikenso
- GRID
- Liquipedia
