The shortlists for the inaugural Esports Leaders Honours awards ceremony have been unveiled across categories including Esports Leader, Rising Star in Esports, Standout Esports Advertising Campaigns, Best Product Innovation in Esports, Access & Grassroots Champions in Esports and Industry Development of the Year.

The awards ceremony, where the winners will be revealed live on the night will take place at Cologne City Hall (Kölner Rathaus) on 19 June 2026, with the Lord Mayor Torsten Burmester in attendance. During the invitation-only evening event, winners will be revealed live on the night and receive their awards on stage at City Hall.

Esports Leaders Honours is a new awards programme and platform created by The Esports Radar to celebrate the people, organisations and projects that helped to define the year in esports and deserve recognition. This year the ceremony forms a part of Global Esports Industry Week (GEIW).

Winners will receive their awards on stage at the event at City Hall.

Access & Grassroots Champions in Esports

• Shortlist: Stefy Bau (CEO, Init Esports), Mags Byrne (Founder, EStars), Ole Martin Gjestad (Founder, KRED Norge), Désiré Koussawo (President, SAGES Africa), David Kosir (Founder, Friendly Fire), Elliot Mack (Co-Founder and CEO, DAIGON Esports), Jon Winkle (Founder, EPIC.LAN)

Esports Leader

• Shortlist: Akshat Rathee, Anna Rozwandowicz, Fabien ‘neo’ Devide, HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, Monica Dinsmore, Niccolo Maisto, Ralf Reichert, Robbie Douek

Rising Star in Esports

• Shortlist: Bilguunbat Enkhbayar (Co-Founder and CEO, The MongolZ), Emanuele Acerbis (CEO & Co-Founder, NOVO Esports), Heloisa Passos (Founder, trexx), Kalam Neale (Head of Education, British Esports), Liam Whitehead (Head of Partnerships, Method), Meg Cabaras (Senior Account Executive, Esports & Gaming, Octagon), Sheridan McGuire (Founder, College Esports News)

Standout Esports Advertising Campaigns

• Shortlist: DHL x EFG x Chew Productions – The Dispatch, G2 x Solo Leveling (Crunchyroll), HEROIC x Razed, Jameel Motorsport x Esports World Cup 2025, Team Liquid x Magnus Carlsen, Team Vitality x Nescafé Latte, Team Vitality x Stake

Best Product Innovation in Esports

• Shortlist: DPM LOL, EVA (Esports Virtual Arenas), Logitech G – the ProX2 Superstrike Mouse, Runestone, Shikenso, UNEVN – the BASE PC Solution, ZOWIE by BenQ

Industry Development of the Year

• Shortlist: BLAST and GamingMalta announce multi-year partnership, including permanent studio spanning over 1,000m², The launch of Esports Nations Cup, India drafts new rules to regulate esports and gaming, with esports formally recognised as sports under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, The sale of Moonton, creator of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, to Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group in a deal valued at approximately $6 billion, Qiddiya-owned RTS fully acquires Evo, Riot Games opening up for betting sponsors in EMEA and Americas, the PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners moving to purchase Electronic Arts (EA) for $55 billion

The “Local Hero” category will see the winner announced on the night too, but this one does not include a shortlist. This category recognises an individual who has made a significant contribution to the betterment of esports locally to wherever the ceremony is being hosted. Given this year’s ceremony is taking place in Germany, The Esports Radar has partnered with E-Sport-Bund Deutschland (ESBD), who will decide this edition’s winner.

Sam Cooke, CEO of The Insights Group (The Esports Radar), said: “As ever with this kind of exercise and selecting those who deserve recognition across these areas this was extremely difficult, but we’re really pleased with those we’ve chosen! They’ve all contributed something meaningful in different ways to esports over this past year in particular, and for many of them for much longer than that too.

“We’re excited to celebrate these people, organisations and the space in Cologne at City Hall in June, and even more excited to scale this Honours platform into the future; we want it to be more representative and do the sector worldwide justice; those developments and that process will follow soon after 19th June.”

The post Shortlists Revealed Across Categories for the Esports Leaders Honours Awards 2025-26 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

DATA.BET reported stronger esports betting performance in Q1 2026 across its partner sportsbook network, citing year-on-year gains in gross gaming revenue (GGR), turnover and player activity versus Q1 2025.

The supplier said esports GGR nearly doubled YoY, while turnover rose 70.6%. It also reported higher activity levels, with placed bets up 33.2% and combo bets increasing 72.1%. DATA.BET attributed the combo bet lift in part to recent UX changes to its Single Page Application (iFrame) and said higher-value wagering from “premium-segment partner platforms” supported a rise in average single bet size.

By title, DATA.BET said CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends and Valorant all delivered “strong double-digit growth” across profit, turnover, bet counts and active users. It also highlighted “niche disciplines” as a profit driver, reporting a 245% YoY increase in profit for that segment. Rainbow Six was singled out for growth following the addition of new markets, including combined Total Over + Win and Win First Half + Win Map, and expanded match coverage, with the company pointing to Latin America as a key audience.

Rocket League posted quarter-on-quarter growth, according to DATA.BET, with turnover up 85.3%, bet counts up 18.7% and active players up 50.1%, alongside a stated 94% live coverage conversion rate. The company also pointed to Valorant EMEA Clash 2026 as a contributor to acquisition, saying newcomers made up 68.6% of all new players and 55.4% of total bets placed.

According to Bohdan Holovnov, Head of Esports at DATA.BET, partners increased activity as returns improved: “High margin efficiency has been a real catalyst this quarter. Partners have increasingly recognized that esports can deliver meaningful commercial returns, encouraging them to scale up promotional campaigns and drive more traffic into the vertical. That feeds directly into more new users, higher turnover, and stronger margins. At the same time, we continue to offer the broadest match and discipline coverage on the market, and the impact is also reflected in the rapid growth of combo bets across our partner platforms.”

DATA.BET said official data events were up 5.2% YoY and the overall event calendar increased 10.8%. It added that top-tier events outperformed low-tier events on turnover, profit and bet count, while low-tier volume grew—particularly in CS2—following Valve’s restructured Major qualification system. Holovnov added: “Q1 of 2026 set a new benchmark for what esports betting can deliver. GGR nearly doubling year over year, combined with a player base growing by more than 56% and increasingly sophisticated betting patterns, suggests the vertical is maturing in exactly the right direction. We’re entering the rest of 2026 with strong momentum, an expanding market portfolio, and partners who are seeing tangible commercial impact quarter after quarter.”

The post DATA.BET says esports betting GGR nearly doubles in Q1 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Genesis Magma Racing has entered the realm of esports and sim racing for the first time with the launch of GMR Esports. The expansion into esports is a key part of Genesis’ goal to increase awareness of the brand and Genesis Magma Racing among a diverse audience, including further raising the profile of the team in South Korea.

Esports Squad Supports Main Goals of Team

The team will compete in official esports events organised on the official game of the series, Le Mans Ultimate, developed by Motorsport Games, including Online Championships, World Endurance Championship Special Events and future official esports competitions.

In joining these events, GMR Esports will support the work of Genesis Magma Racing. The Esports team will compete in virtual models of the same GMR-001 Hypercar from the WEC, carrying a similar distinctive livery as their on-track counterparts. The team’s presence in the events will help further expand the awareness of the Genesis brand outside of the traditional motorsport audience, just as Genesis Magma Racing aims to expand the following of the manufacturer with its more performance-orientated image and approach.

Genesis Magma Racing Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “Genesis Magma Racing is a large project and we want to be successful everywhere we compete, including with GMR Esports. The creation of GMR Esports makes the team, GMR-001 Hypercar and the Genesis brand more accessible to a wider audience and the success of our drivers in online competition will complement the work of the race team on track.”

He continued: “Esports is increasingly becoming an entry point to motorsport, so it is very important to have Genesis and Genesis Magma Racing represented there. Esports provides a gateway for would-be drivers to develop their talents, prove themselves to teams in official events, and build a professional racing career. If GMR Esports and our work with Le Mans Ultimate can provide a route for new drivers and fans, then we can certainly take that as a positive, on top of any event results.”

The launch of GMR Esports builds on Genesis Magma Racing’s existing partnership with Motorsport Games, with Le Mans Ultimate branding featured on the GMR-001 Hypercar. This close collaboration has already enabled the GMR-001 Hypercar to be brought to Le Mans Ultimate ahead of its first competitive outing, giving fans an early opportunity to experience the car in action and underlining a shared commitment to authenticity.

Virtual and Real-world Racing Experience Combined

GMR Esports is made of a stable of seven drivers — six main drivers and one reserve, similar to the makeup of the Genesis Magma Racing FIA World Endurance Championship team. The esports drivers are a mix of European and Korean talent and blend proven professional virtual racing and real-world experience, including competing in some of the biggest races in the world.

The team is led by Dutchman Collin Spork. A former Formula Sim Racing World Champion and a Virtual Endurance World Championship winner in the Hypercar category, Spork combines elite-level sim racing with ongoing work supporting professional race teams as a Simulation and Development Driver. He brings a strong focus on detail and collaboration, helping translate simulator learning into actionable performance gains.

As well as a driving role, Spork will also take on the technical and development lead within the team.

Spork said: “This program is about more than just results — it’s about building a team that can push the limits of the GMR-001 Hypercar in the virtual world and feed that learning back into everything Genesis Magma Racing stands for. Le Mans Ultimate gives us a platform that rewards detail, discipline and teamwork, and that’s exactly the environment we want to develop in. My focus is to make sure we arrive prepared, keep improving every session and represent the Genesis brand with the same professionalism and ambition you see on track.”

Further leadership is provided by Nissan GT Academy alumni Jesper Pedersen and Slovenian Jernej Simončič, two of endurance sim racing’s most established competitors. Pedersen is an Endurance eRacing World Champion and a Virtual Endurance Championship Division 1 GT3 champion and also a Le Mans Virtual Bahrain 8 Hours overall winner. Alongside his esports record, the Dane brings real-world experience including Formula Ford and national endurance racing.

Simončič has built a reputation as one of the standout drivers in global esports, with multiple Formula Sim Racing World Championship titles and a record of winning at the highest level across formats, including major LAN finals. He also brings proven endurance credentials highlighted by podium finishes in virtual editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and front-running results in the Virtual Endurance Championship.

Korean Talent Expands Aims of Programme

Genesis Magma Racing’s expansion into esports also provides a new avenue for the team to connect with its growing Korean audience.

“GMR Esports and Genesis Magma Racing will work together to achieve our shared goals. There is no WEC round in the country, but esports are very popular in South Korea. GMR Esports gives us a new, key way to engage with our Korean audience, making Genesis Magma Racing, Genesis and motorsport far more accessible to the new fans we aim to create,” said Genesis Magma Racing Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul.

The post Genesis Magma Racing Launches GMR Esports as Official Esports Team appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.