eSports
EXCEL ESPORTS introduces The Power of Better into major brand update
The leading British competitive gaming brand unveils ambitious manifesto and vision of The Power of Better, incorporating purpose into its brand identity to help improve the gaming and esports industry and looking beyond the esports “lifestyle brand”
EXCEL ESPORTS, the leading British competitive gaming culture brand, with teams participating in the two biggest global video games, Fortnite and League of Legends, has today unveiled a significant brand update, a bold and unique visual identity in esports that will see EXCEL evolve into a professional team that adds purpose to its passion for gaming. The update signifies the next stage of EXCEL’s expansion, growth and its unique vision of The Power of Better; a commitment to improve in everything it does and to use its platform to have a positive impact on the wider gaming and esports community.
Since its inception six years ago, EXCEL has become the most prolific British esports team, making significant strides to represent, support and develop the esports ecosystem.
EXCEL now looks to the future and what it means to be a professional esports team, steering beyond the over-used “lifestyle” esports brand and carving out a new unique path in esports that will see it driven by performance and incorporating purpose, striving to be better and enacting positive change in esports and gaming through its vision of The Power of Better. Centered around two core principles, The Power of Better is the belief that improvement never stops – whether you’re part of an organisation or as an individual, you can be better tomorrow than you are today – and aims to challenge the status quo in the world of esports. It is a commitment by EXCEL to constantly review how it operates, continuously looking inwards and onwards.
EXCEL began its journey of improvement by creating the Performance Playbook, which focuses on the holistic development of its players both physiologically and psychologically as well as the Pyramid of Success, a philosophy for engineering improved levels of performance that is underpinned by its core values and beliefs of trust, respect, dedication, discipline and creating good habits. The Power of Better looks to go further than performance with EXCEL looking to be an inspiration for the wider gaming community by having a positive impact on everything it does.
To start, EXCEL has revealed the launch of the ‘Gaming for Better’ whitepaper series for gamers everywhere, with the first one created by EXCEL’s Head of Performance and sports psychology expert Fabian Broich. The whitepaper, published today, explores the common injuries experienced by gamers and provides advice on how to improve individual performance and become healthier by focusing on physical activity, lifestyle balance, and creating positive habits.
To illustrate its new ambitions and The Power of Better vision, EXCEL has unveiled a completely new visual identity with a new logo, colour palette, website and merchandise line. The logo will retain the ‘X’ and ‘L’ widely used and recognised by EXCEL fans. The design has been simplified to ensure it is easily identifiable and the forward arrow in the X embodies the brands forward thinking approach as well as the dynamic world of gaming. The new diverse and flexible colour palette allows for creativity, fluidity and change, reflecting EXCEL’s ambitions to forge its own path and allowing the brand to evolve as it continues its journey of improvement. The new website will act as a digital destination for fans, the centerpoint where the community can stay up to date with the latest EXCEL news. It will also incorporate a shop with new merch ranges.
“Over the last six years, EXCEL ESPORTS has seen immense growth, transforming from a bedroom hobby into a professional competitive gaming brand with players competing in the world’s biggest esports. When EXCEL was founded we wanted our identity to be motivational, competitive, and allow people to easily support us in-game with the XL tag. As we head into this next phase of our journey, it’s great to be able to showcase our roots and initial passion, whilst developing our brand so that it is fit for our future ambitions”, said Kieran Holmes-Darby, Co-Founder and Chief Gaming Officer, EXCEL ESPORTS.
“At EXCEL we have unlimited ambitions in the games we compete in, what we want to become as a team and as a brand. It’s now time for us to take our next step to grow as a globally recognised, respected and loved competitive gaming brand from Britain. This step is more than just a visual update, it’s our belief in our vision for ourselves, our talent, our community and our culture. We believe that too many try to copy each other, vying to be competitive or lifestyle without further meaning. Today, we will start our journey of The Power of Better with passion, professionalism, performance and purpose. This is more than just a brand update, it is EXCEL’s promise to be better every day and make our contribution to the future of competitive gaming,” said Wouter Sleijffers, CEO, EXCEL ESPORTS.
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eSports
Esports Awards adds player-voted EWC Players’ Choice Award, extends Esports Foundation deal
The Esports Awards and the Esports Foundation (EF) on June 18, 2026, announced a three-year extension of their partnership through 2028 and introduced a new player-voted honor, the EWC Players’ Choice Award. The announcement was made in London, with voting tied to Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 in Paris.
The EWC Players’ Choice Award will be decided exclusively by professional esports players. According to the announcement, competitors attending EWC 2026 will vote in person, while a secure digital voting platform hosted by the Esports Awards will allow participation from additional eligible players and clubs.
Eligibility requires players to have competed in at least one qualifying S, A or B-Tier tournament during the official competitive season. Players will not be able to vote for themselves or teammates, with the Esports Awards overseeing the process.
“The talent and innovation of our sector should be getting the exposure it deserves.,” said Michael Ashford, CEO of the Esports Awards. “The Esports Foundation has done an incredible job in generating mainstream attention, and industry exposure outside of the standard circuit. Our partnership has enabled us to expand our operations and footprint and it’s through our continued collaboration that I hope we can bring the Esports Awards to the global community, and provide the industry with better visibility all year round.”
The Esports Awards also confirmed its 2026 ceremony will take place in the United States, starting what it described as a rotating host city model featuring “previously unvisited destinations.” The event previously staged its 2024 awards ceremony and the 2025 Decade Awards in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of the Esports World Cup program.
EWC 2026 is scheduled for Paris from July 06 through August 23, 2026, with more than 2,000 players and 200 Clubs from over 100 countries set to compete in 25 tournaments across 24 games. Voting for the EWC Players’ Choice Award will run from July 1 through August 18, 2026, with the winner to be revealed during the Esports Awards ceremony later this year. The Esports Awards said additional details about its 2026 event will be announced in the coming weeks.
The post Esports Awards adds player-voted EWC Players’ Choice Award, extends Esports Foundation deal appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
chess
ENC 2026 chess qualifiers wrap as 82 nations and territories make the field
The Esports Foundation (EF) has completed the online regional qualifiers for the Chess tournament at the Esports Nations Cup 2026 (ENC), scheduled to debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2-29, 2026.
EF said the 128-player chess field is now largely set. 64 players from 64 countries and territories received direct invitations via official Champions Chess Tour (CCT) rankings at the end of May, while 61 players qualified through online regional events operated by Chess.com across North America, South America, Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East/India/Central Asia, and East Asia/Southeast Asia/Oceania.
A further slot was awarded to Amani Alazmi (Kuwait) via the Host Region Wildcard as the next highest-placing competitor from the host region. Two Wildcard Solidarity slots for underrepresented regions remain and will be announced at the end of August after all ENC qualifiers are completed. With qualifiers concluded, EF said at least 82 countries and territories will be represented in chess at ENC 2026.
EF highlighted that Jamaica, Paraguay, Singapore, South Africa, Tajikistan, Tunisia, and Turkmenistan each secured two qualifying slots despite not receiving a direct invitation. Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, Jordan, Australia, and New Zealand secured one slot each.
The chess competition runs November 2-8. EF said the event will open with a round-robin group stage featuring 16 groups of eight players, before moving to a 64-player single-elimination playoff bracket. The full list of qualified players and nations is available on the ENC website’s chess page.
The post ENC 2026 chess qualifiers wrap as 82 nations and territories make the field appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
1xBet
HLTV Awards returns to Belgrade on January 9, 2027, adding Lifetime Achievement honor
HLTV will stage the HLTV Awards presented by 1xBet in Belgrade, Serbia on January 9, 2027, returning to the Sava Center. The company said more than 1,000 players, industry professionals, creators, and fans are expected to attend.
HLTV also confirmed Dust2 creator David Johnston will feature as an award announcer. HLTV linked the booking to the 25th anniversary of Dust2.
For 2026, HLTV is updating its Hall of Fame process and eligibility rules. Four players will be inducted again, with “at least two and up to three” slots reserved for players from the Counter-Strike 1.6 and early eras. HLTV also removed the former “neo rule,” allowing players to be inducted for their playing careers even if they remain active in other roles such as coaching.
HLTV is adding a Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be decided by the Hall of Fame Board. The ceremony will also move Community Awards onto the main stage show for the first time, rather than the pre-show segment.
Separately, HLTV will kick off the 2027 Awards season with an invite-only “HLTV Awards by 1xBet Launch Party x GRID” in Cologne during the Major. HLTV said industry members can apply for an invite to the ceremony via its awards page.
The post HLTV Awards returns to Belgrade on January 9, 2027, adding Lifetime Achievement honor appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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