Over the past few years, esports has seen the emergence of numerous new tournaments that have quickly evolved from experimental projects into key events of the season. They bring fresh formats, expand geographical reach, and attract the attention of both fans and top-tier teams. What I find particularly interesting about these projects is how, in such a short time, they have managed to secure their place alongside established leagues and majors. In 2025, there’s a solid list of such championships worth keeping an eye on. And although they are still relatively young, these are often the very events where the year’s biggest surprises are born.
Esports World Cup (EWC)
EWC is one of the largest and most ambitious tournaments, first held in 2024, and from its debut season it established itself as the central summer stage for global esports. Its concept is unique — within a single event, there are 25 tournaments across 24 different games, covering everything from top-tier shooters and MOBAs to card games and racing simulators. This scale allows viewers to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of a massive festival, where each day is filled with a continuous stream of matches and events.
The EWC format is designed to unite the competitive spirit of different esports scenes and bring them together in one place. The prize pool is truly impressive — in 2025, it reached record-breaking figures for a multi-title tournament, exceeding tens of millions of dollars. Thanks to EGW news, I can always quickly check schedules, results, and key updates — which is especially valuable when so many tournaments are taking place simultaneously.
Organizers focus on delivering a rich program: qualifiers, group stages, playoffs, and finals for each discipline are all held at the same time, creating a dense schedule and ensuring constant excitement throughout the event. Broadcasts feature multilingual streams, interactive elements for fans, and special show matches with popular streamers and professional players.
By its second season in 2025, EWC can no longer be seen as just a tournament — it has become a full-fledged cultural event in esports, attracting the best teams in the world, media outlets, and thousands of fans, turning the summer into a true celebration for the entire community.
PGL CS2 Kickoff
PGL CS2 Kickoff has become one of the most notable projects to emerge in esports following the release of Counter-Strike 2, with its inaugural event taking place in early 2024. It was conceived as a starting point for the new competitive season — a tournament that allows teams not only to test their form but also to make a statement before the launch of major championships.
Unlike traditional majors with lengthy formats, Kickoff offers a much more dynamic structure: shorter match series, a tightly packed schedule, and minimal breaks between stages. This approach makes each day of play highly intense and keeps viewers engaged from the very first minutes.
PGL deliberately opted for a format where not only tactical preparation matters, but also the ability to adapt quickly to opponents. This creates situations where favorites can unexpectedly fall, while second-tier teams can make a loud breakthrough. By 2025, the tournament is already seen as a must-attend fixture in the calendar for all top teams, and its winners often go on to prove their strength with strong performances at subsequent majors.
Kickoff has become more than just the opening event of the season — it serves as a clear indicator of upcoming trends in CS2, offering a glimpse into the meta that will dominate in the coming months and providing an early measure of the true form of the scene’s leading teams.
Riyadh Masters в Dota 2
Although the Gamers8 festival had been held before, it was the Riyadh Masters — in the format of a full-scale Dota 2 tournament — that established itself in 2022–2023 as a key part of the esports summer. This event quickly became one of the most anticipated of the season, attracting not only Dota 2 fans but also the wider esports audience thanks to its large-scale organization and spectacular match production.
With each passing year, the tournament’s prize pool grows, and the level of participating teams rises. Organizers invite the best rosters in the world, including champions and finalists of The International, making the event a true “mini-TI” in the middle of the season. At the same time, the Riyadh Masters format often leaves room for surprises — second-tier teams frequently knock out high-profile opponents, creating unexpected storylines and shifting perceptions of the favorites ahead of the year’s main tournaments.
For Dota 2 fans, it is a unique opportunity to witness unconventional results and bold experimental strategies that players may hesitate to use at The International. For the teams themselves, it’s a chance not only to claim a significant prize but also to test their readiness under intense competition and the scrutiny of millions of viewers around the world.
VALORANT Champions Tour: Pacific League
The VALORANT Champions Tour: Pacific League launched in 2023 as part of the global VCT structure and quickly established itself as one of the key regional championships in Valorant. From its very first season, the tournament drew attention not only from the Asian audience but also from viewers in Europe and North America, thanks to its high level of play and the participation of well-known organizations.
What makes the Pacific League stand out is its mix of experienced rosters and fresh talent who use this stage as a springboard for rapid breakthroughs. It’s often a place where viewers can witness unconventional strategies and bold picks that later make their way onto the world stage. Organizers actively invest in the media side of the event, keeping broadcasts dynamic and accessible for an international audience, including English, Japanese, and Korean streams.
By 2025, the Pacific League is regarded as a fully-fledged hub of the Asian Valorant scene, influencing the balance of power on the global stage. Its winners and finalists consistently deliver strong performances at Masters and Champions, and the tournament itself has become a key indicator of who will set the meta in the upcoming stages of the VCT.
Conclusion
Tournaments that emerged just 2–3 years ago have already firmly secured their place in the esports calendar. EWC and PGL CS2 Kickoff demonstrate how quickly a world-class event can be built when it has a strong concept and the support of the community. I am confident that these projects will shape trends in the coming years and redefine what an esports tournament can be.
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