With the FNCS (Fortnite Champions Series) Major 1 Grand Finals concluded, Fortnite fans can look forward to a new addition to the FNCS season. Here is everything you need to know about the FNCS Pro-Am 2025.

The showmatch on May 10th event invites 20 of the game’s biggest content creators to team up with 20 FNCS players and compete for a $500,000 (~£387,000) prize pool.

The first edition of FNCS Pro-Am will take place at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center, Los Angeles, on May 10th. The 20 participating duos will face each other in Fortnite’s Reload game mode, where players are automatically rebooted as long as other team members are still alive.

The winning squad will be determined through a scoring system that awards points based on duo placements and enemy eliminations.

The games will be broadcast live on Fortnite’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. In addition to the English stream, fans can tune into the Portuguese and Japanese event coverage.

For those wanting to attend FNCS Pro-Am 2025, venue tickets offering various benefits, such as the Meet n’ Greet option, are available.

Although the full list of contestants is yet to be announced, several professional players and content creators have already been confirmed for the showmatch. This includes XSET part-owner Cody ‘Clix’ Conrod, who reached 3rd place at this year’s Major 1: NA Central  – Grand Finals.

Fellow XSET member Moxie will also compete at FNCS Pro-Am. The Mexican player won The Milk Cup Finals last year.

Other confirmed FNCS players include Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf, Iwo ‘Setty’ Zając, Kyle ‘Mongraal’ Jackson and Martin ‘MrSavage’ Andersen.

Among FNCS Pro-Am’s content creators are streamers and 100 Thieves co-owner Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop, as well as Lachlan ‘Lachlan’ Power, founder of gaming organisation PWR.

Moreover, popular creators Irina ‘Reddysh’ Andreea, Ali ‘SypherPK’ Hassan and Kayla ‘Sommerset’ Coy will join the competition.

TSM announced that one of its longest-running Apex Legends players, Jordan ‘Reps‘ Wolfe, will be parting ways with the esports organisation.

Reps, a TSM staple since Apex Legends’ early days, is departing just shy of his sixth anniversary with the team.

The announcement was made on X by the organisation, which included a short montage of Reps best moments in his Apex journey.

It said: “The rock, the pillar, the OG. It’s bittersweet to part ways with one of the greatest players of all time. From X Games to Champs, you won it all with the black-and-white. We can’t thank you enough for making history with us time and time again.”

Reps is the last of TSM’s iconic ALGS team to leave. Evan ‘Verhulst’ Verhulst also left TSM recently, and before him both Phillip ‘ImperialHal‘ Dosen and coach Elias ‘raven’ Ghribi also departed.

This means that the organisation’s original ALGS line-up has left. TSM currently has no signed Apex players, meaning it’s unlikely to compete at ALGS Year 5.

Reps first joined the organisation in June 2019 shortly after Apex Legends first launched. Since then, he’s won over $650,000 (~£503,000) in prize pool money.

2023 saw Reps at his prime, the year where he won several major titles. Many consider ALGS Year 3 to be the peak of his esports career, claiming first in multiple LANS alongside ImperialHal and Verhulst with Raven’s coaching.

The unstoppable trio helped cement TSM’s dominance in the early seasons of ALGS and other Apex leagues, such as the X Games Invitational.

Where Reps will permanently go from here is anyone’s guess, but it’s clear that he’s not leaving the Apex scene any time soon. A post on X shared how Reps would be playing with Dominic ‘Deeds‘ Peranio and Alan ‘Vaxlon‘ Gonzalez in what could be the biggest year for ALGS yet.

Deeds said: “Teaming up with Reps and Vaxlon for ALGS Open and Year 5 Pro League. Let’s get to work fellas.”

While Electronic Arts (EA) is paying for Apex Legends esports players to travel for this year’s ALGS Open, players are now expected to self-fund for their hotel stay.

This revelation has sparked a backlash from both pro players and the community, but EA is adamant that this decision will keep the event ‘equitable.’

This year’s AGLS is set to be the biggest one yet, with over 160 teams flying in to compete on the highest level of Apex Legends esports.

In previous years, Apex Legends publisher EA covered both travel and hotel accommodations for teams. The organisation would provide two rooms, which would be shared between three players and a coach.

However, this year EA is rolling back parts of that hospitality due to the increased size of the event. It’s ditching accommodations and focusing on travel instead, ensuring players actually make it to AGLS no matter where they’re geographically located.

In comments shared with esports.gg, a spokesperson from EA said: “By covering airfare for all qualified teams, we’re providing a level playing field for players to compete, no matter where in the world they come from or how expensive their travel would be.

“Airfare typically has fewer options available, whereas there are a variety of accommodation options players can leverage depending on their budget.”

EA has shared that it will be taking steps to ensure booking accommodation is smooth for players, including notifying hotels in the area, providing discount codes, and releasing a travel guide with visa requirements.

Not everyone is thrilled with EA’s revised plan. Some Apex Legends esports players see it as a necessary trade-off for a bigger tournament, while others slam the last-minute radical change.

A post on X by Jake Lucky highlighted some of the Apex pros reactions to the announcement.

John ‘Hakis‘ Håkansson, a Swedish player for Alliance, said: “It’s 2025 and this could have so easily been solved by just doing a designated skin bundle or merchandise for the Open LAN, which would have crowdfunded all the travel, accommodation and then some for the 160 team open LAN. “

Casper ‘Gnaske‘ Præstensgaard, a Danish player for Ninjas in Pyjamas, shared a similar sentiment adding that pro skin bundles would be ‘revolutionary for the esport.’

Others are more sympathetic, understanding EA’s rollback while still welcoming the chance to compete.

Top player Phillip ‘ImperialHal‘ Dosen said: “3/4 months to make money for the trip, for all these people that is a dream come true for them. They just expect handouts because that’s what was given before this entire time.”

The Apex Legends esports scene has been around for some time now, with AGLS holding its inaugural season from May 22nd to June 13th, 2021. Now, 2025 is looking to be the biggest event yet, set to be almost double the size of what it was last year.

Ben ‘Wxltzy‘ Walton, an Australian player for the Falcons, said: “Those complaining need to just not compete [in my opinion]. If you think you won’t earn more than what [accommodation] costs then why are you going?”

Noctem Esports announced on X that it’s shutting down for good “with immediate effect,” leaving its current teams in search of new organisations to sign with.

The UK esports organisation has been active for the past two years, competing in both Apex Legends and Call of Duty leagues.

The news was shared by the official Noctem account on X on March 3rd, 2025. It said: “A sad day today, as we’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to cease Noctem’s operations with immediate effect.

“For two years, we gave everything to build something special, and to take the brand to where we needed and wanted it to be Unfortunately, we couldn’t make that happen. But what a ride it’s been. Four world finals appearances, four esports, millions of views. An incredible and dedicated content team.”

Noctem concluded that it’s been ‘one hell of a journey,’ and even felt hopeful that the organisation could return one day.

In light of its success and victories over the past two years, the announcement of Noctem’s closure came as a surprise to many esports players online.

Marco ‘Stallion‘ Galluzo, a streamer for Fnatic, said: “Can’t believe this, thought you’d made some huge moves over the last two years as well. Wish all the best for everyone who was involved.”

Stingzy is a content creator and was a former member of Noctem Esports before leaving on February 26, 2025. In response to the announcement, he said: “It’s really sad to see this. I loved my time here, and [I’m] sad to see it end!”

Noctem Esports was first established on March 19, 2023 by Jack Stovell, former FIFA competitor for Dignitas back in 2009.

One of its most recent achievements was in the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) 2024 Championship, securing 18th place and earning $20,000 in prize money.

Noctem faced a rough start to 2025 after it could not land a sponsor for Apex Champs.

“Apex Champs is just over a week away,” Stovell said on X at the time, “and we’ve had it confirmed our last sponsor opportunity isn’t happening. Esports is hard, we’ve had a lot fall through in the last five months, and although I’m always optimistic – It’s been a challenge recently.”

The challenges that followed would eventually lead to Noctem letting go of it’s Apex Legends team. This included Mohsin ‘mohziin’ Khan, and Max ‘RemixPowers’ Creamer. Thomaz ‘Atinum’ Ferreira Brasil transferred to GoNext Esports on February 23rd, 2025.

The Olympic Council of Asia has announced the games that will feature as part of the esports portion of the 2026 Nachi-nagoya Asian Games.

The esports part of the event will feature several titles spanning multiple genres including sim racing, MOBA, and battle royale

In total, players from across Asia will compete in eleven esports games with the aim of winning an official medal.

In 2023, the Council decided that esports would remain part of its flagship event which will hold its 20th edition in 2026.

The games that have been chosen to form part of the 2026 Nachi-nagoya Asian Games are as follows:

The decision to select these games was made by a dedicated title selection task force with three experts tasked with picking a variety of games across several genres.

The 19th edition of the Asian Games in 2023 saw esports events in EA Sports FC, Dota 2, and Arena of Valor take place. For 2026, the three titles have been replaced with eFootball, NARAKA: Bladepoint, Honor of Kings, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Puyo Puyo Champions.

To highlight the popularity of the Asian Games’ esports portion, Esports Charts noted that last edition’s League of Legends and Dota 2 events recorded peak viewing figures of 146,000 and 78,000, not including Chinese viewership.

Taking place in the Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture in Japan across September and October 2026, the 2026 Asian Games will be supported by the Asian Electronic Sports Federation, the esports governing body for the region.

The involvement of esports in Olympic projects has continued to grow in recent years.

In 2027, the International Olympic Committee will host the inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Games in partnership with the Esports World Cup Foundation, the organisers of the Esports World Cup.

On February 11th, 2025, it was revealed the Olympic Esports Games was pushed back from its initial year of 2025.

PUBG Esports has named the 10 teams that will included in its global partnership programme for the 2025 season.

The announcement comes two months after PUBG opened the application process.

The application process opened in December 2024 with esports organisations from across the world applying to be part of the initiative.

“After receiving numerous impressive applications, the PUBG Esports evaluation committee conducted an extensive assessment based on the previously announced criteria,” stated PUBG Esports in the announcement.

“We sincerely appreciate every team that applied and demonstrated such strong passion for our partner programme. The margins were razor-thin.”

The 10 partner teams for the 2025 PUBG Esports season are as follows:

Compared to 2024, six esports organisations have maintained a place on the PUBG Esports partner programme. ON Freecs, Earena, Team Falcons and The Expendables are new additions. However, the likes of FaZe Clan, Soniqs, Daytrade Gaming and CERBERUS are no longer global partners.

The 10 partner teams will be guaranteed participation in PUBG Global Series events taking place in 2025.

The first event of the 2025 season is set to take place in April where 14 teams from the regional Phase 1 leagues will join the partner teams to compete for prize money and PGS Points, which determines seeding for future tournaments.

On February 19th, 2025, PUBG Esports opened sign-ups for its EMEA Championship and Americas Series where teams have the opportunity to qualify for the first PUBG Global Series event.

PUBG has managed to cement its place as one of the top battle royale esports titles along with the mobile version of the game.

Alongside the PUBG Global Series and regional leagues, the game is one of several games hosting tournaments at the Esports World Cup, a multi-title event taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Retired professional Fortnite player Morgan ‘RepulseGod’ Bamford has been banned from Epic’s official Fortnite competitions after he was caught cheating during the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) in 2023.

The announcement on the official Fortnite Competitive X (formerly Twitter) account from February 17th further revealed that any prize money unfairly earned by RepulseGod was forfeited and donated to charity.

Australian player RepulseGod competed in Fortnite tournaments between 2019 and 2022, winning several iterations of Trio and Duo Cups in the Oceania region. In 2020, his squad placed second at the FNCS Invitational – Grand Finals: Oceania.

The FNCS is the most prestigious competition within Fortnite’s esports ecosystem, with majors in multiple regions and culminating in the annual Global Championship. The first major of this year’s FNCS season recently concluded across all of the circuit’s regions, providing the first qualifications for the 2025 Global Championship in Lyon, France.

During the seventh season in 2023, RepulseGod officially competed in the FNCS Major 3 of their region alongside their duo, Jace. The two eventually won the Grand Finals, securing a spot in the $4m (~£3.2m) Global Championship in October 2023. However, the duo was disqualified just one day before the Championship kick-off.

It had been confirmed that RepulseGod had lent his Fortnite account to another player and well-known cheater, Forbes, to claim the regional trophy and qualify for the international Championship.

Fortnite developer Epic successfully took legal action against RepulseGod’s deceptive behaviour, resulting in a life-long ban as well as the return of their prize money more than one year later.

Epic’s announcement also linked to an official statement from RepulseGodm published on their YouTube channel. In the video, the player admits to sharing their account with a cheater and apologises for their actions.

He said: “Cheating in tournaments ruins the fun for the players who earned their spot in tournaments and I apologise to the Fortnite community for my actions. I won’t ever cheat in Fortnite again.”

Epic’s reaction to the cheating incident was met with an overall positive response from the Fortnite community and notable esports professionals. The decision to make RepulseGod share a video after getting banned was seen as a good thing for the esports scene.

Esports reporter Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau commented via X: “If every game developer sued and publicly shamed their cheaters we could get this industry cleaned up in six months.”

The FNCS Major 1 Grand Finals, Fortnite’s first significant event in its 2025 esports calendar, concluded over the weekend with winners crowned across the ecosystem’s seven regions.

For each regional event, 33 teams dropped into Fortnite matches for a chance to win a share of $2m (~£1.5m) and to qualify for the season-ending Global Championship.

With all matches finished, this article contains information on which teams won their region and who booked their place in Lyon, France.

The FNCS Major 1 Grand Finals involved trios match-ups, creating a different dynamic to last year’s duo’s structure. Below is a closer look at each of the seven regions and the teams that achieved victory.

The European part of the competition saw the trio of Vic0 (BIG), Veno (XSET) and Flickzy (AIGHT) win the $180,000 (~£142,701) top prize along with qualification for the Global Championship. The team was an early favourite in the competition following its Group 3 victory to qualify for the FNCS Major.

Also representing Group 3 was the team of P1ng (AIGHT), Wox (Team HavoK) and Malibuca (Karmine Corp). Despite only finishing fourth in the group, the team took second place and $120,000 (~£95,134) and is the second team from the region to qualify for the season-ending event.

Interestingly, last year’s FNCS World Champions Malibuca and Merstach (now competing in separate teams), placed second and fourth, respectively.

For NA Central, Ajerss, Acorn (Dignitas) and Pollo secured $180,000 (~£142,701) in prize money while Ritual (XSET), Cold (Twisted Minds) and Peterbot (Team Falcons) finished in second with $76,500 (~£60,654) and a worlds place in Lyon, France.

Both trios outperformed their efforts in the Groups to claim a sport in the Global Championship. Ajerss, Acorn and Pool placed third in Group 3 with Ritual, Cold and Pererbot placing fifth in Group 2.

2019 Fortnite World Cup solo winner Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf, finished seventh.

The NA West event saw Bacca, Parz, and PXMP (2AM) claim first place and win $45,000 (~£35,689) despite only finishing fifth in Group 1 earlier in the month. The Group 1 (Xpon, Resypical and Krimz) and 2 (Phoenix, Creep and Dom) winners finished the event in 25th and 16th, respectively.

Bacca, Parz, and PXMP were the only ones in NA West to qualify for the 2025 Global Championship.

The Asian competition featured a $90,000 (~£71,337) prize pool distributed across the top 15 teams. The trio of Rise (Riddle), yuma (ZETA DIVISION) and Koyota (ZETA DIVISION) won the lion’s share of the prize money along with the only qualification spot for the region.

Notably, the Major 1 Group 1 winners ZeroKin (Sengoku Gaming), Larkpex (AJS) and DayDus (ENTER FORCE 36) finished the competition in 11th.

The South American Fortnite scene continues to grow, with the FNCS Major 1 Grand Final featuring several talents from across the region. The team of Fazer (ShindeN), Phzin (W7M Esports) and K1nG won $45,000 (~£35,689) along with a place at the Global Championship.

With investment in esports continuing to elevate the industry in the Middle East, 33 teams participated for FNCS Major 1 Grand Finals’ $90,000 (~£71,337) prize pool. The trio of 5aald (Glory Esports), FKS (Al Ula) and Hero (Al Ula) won the event and the chance to represent the region on the biggest stage for the battle royale.

Continuing the trend of Group winners not being victorious in the finals, the table toppers in Group 1 (Kai, Rxtr and Escdark) and Group 2 (Hellonsteam, Vysi and P5EK) finished 21st and 29th, respectively.

A final $90,000 (~£71,337) was on the line for the Oceania region. Danath (Frantik Esports), Mace (Armour Esports) and Skits (Team Vanish) emerged victorious, winning $27,000 (~£21,414) and the last Global Championship spot on offer during FNCS Major 1.

The 2025 FNCS season features three Majors before ending with the Global Championship.

With Major 1 now concluded, the focus turns to the divisional cups for Major 2. The divisional cups determine the teams that qualify for the group stage which decides the trios who make it to the Grand Finals.

FNCS Major 2 will take place on April 9th and will conclude with the Grand Finals on April 27th.

The FNCS (Fornite Champions Series) Major 1 Grand Finals is the first Major tournament of the 2025 Fortnite esports circuit.

Held online, the competition will see 33 teams competing across seven regions for varying amounts of prize money. Teams will vie for the opportunity to qualify for Fortnite’s world championship in Lyon, France.

Ahead of the action starting, here’s everything there is to know about the FNCS 2025 Major 1 Grand Finals.

For 2025, the FNCS has adopted a new qualification system for its Major tournaments and its season-ending world championships.

Teams competed in five weeks of Divisional Cups to qualify for the Major 1 Group Stage. Organisations then participated in the event for a chance to qualify for the Grand Finals taking place from February 15th, 2025, to February 16th, 2025.

For teams that failed to qualify for the Group Stage, there is also a Last Chance Qualifier which is open to all players in Divisions 1, 2 and 3. In total, there will be three Majors, each gaining qualification for the FNCS Global Championship.

For Major 1 specifically, the top two teams Europe and North America Cerntal will secure a place at the World Championship from September 6th to September 7th.

In total, there are seven regions that form the FNCS:

For Major 1, Europe has the largest prize pool of $816,000 (~£648,857). Meanwhile, North America Central has a $562,500 (~£447,243) prize pool, North America West and Brazil have $180,000 (~£143,102) prize pools, while Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania have a prize pool of $90,000 (~£71,546).

Aside from Europe and North America Central, only the winner of their respective Major 1 events will receive an invite to the FNCS Global Championship.

Across the two days, all 33 competing teams from their region will drop into 12 matches with six games taking place each day.

Scoring is determined by the number of eliminations scored and placement earned during a match.

The top teams with the highest scores at the end of the two days will book a place at the World Championship.

With several teams in with a chance of being the last one standing, there are many notable names viewers should keep an eye on over the two days of matches.

After winning Group 1 in Europe, Oxalys Bunch are one of the top trios in the region alongside the likes of FOKUS CLAN, FLC Clan and Guild Esports.

For North America Central, the Mexican team of Hybrid Sport won Group 1 for the region with the trio of Bucke, Okis and Kraez winning Group 3.

Compared to Europe, North America has several individual players representing esports organisations rather than an entire team. Brazil, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania and NA West only had two groups of teams battling for qualification to the Major, as opposed to three in NA Central and Europe.

For North America West, it was the team of Summit, Creep and Dom that walked out victorious in Group 2. Meanwhile, Xpon, Resypical and Krimz were victorious in Group 1.

Other notable names include Brazil’s trio of Nutifps, Renato, Asia’s Night, Zerokun, Larkpex and DayDus, Middle East’s Hellonsteam, Vysi, and P5EK and the team of Jxsn, Mana, and Phazgod competing in the Oceania tournament.

The 2025 edition of the FNCS Major 1 Grand Final will be shown on Fortnite’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.

The opening tournament of this year’s FNCS will aim to build on a successful end to 2024’s Global Championship which garnered peak viewing figures of 809,000.

Esports has a vast ecosystem that spans across a variety of games, each with its own unique structures and calendars. As such, fans of multiple esports are treated to major tournaments and events throughout the entirety of the year.

To help navigate esports’ hectic calendar, Esports Insider has created a month-by-month list of events that are taking place in 2025. These competitions range from annual World Championships to major leagues that cover entire regions. 

This list will be updated periodically as more major esports events and dates are announced. First published: 13/01/25.

League of Legends and VALORANT kick off esports’ competitive calendar with their international respective leagues all commencing. However, the first month of 2025 also concludes Apex Legends’ latest season as the 2024 ALGS Championship heads to Japan.

February sees some of the best teams across Rainbow Six Siege, VALORANT and Counter-Strike 2 collide with the Six Invitational 2025, VALORANT Masters Bangkok 2025 and PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 all taking place, respectively. Meanwhile, Fortnite’s esports ecosystem takes centre stage across the world with its online Major 1 Grand Finals.

League of Legends’ esports ecosystem will debut its new tournament, First Stand, in March. Meanwhile, Capcom Cup 11, Street Fighter 6’s biggest event of the year, and Rocket League’s RLCS 2025 Birmingham Major stand out within a very busy month in esports.

Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 largely dominate April 2025, with the likes of PGL Bucharest, BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, IEM Spring, ESL One Raleigh and PGL Wallachia Season 4 all starting in the month. Call of Duty League’s Stage 3 Major and ESL Snapdragon Pro Series: Mobile Masters 2025 are other stand-out events in April.

Counter-Strike 2 continues to dominate the 2025 esports calendar with four significant events happening in May alone. Notably, this includes ESL Impact League Season 7, Counter-Strike 2’s women’s-only esports competition.

June is jam-packed with international events. VALORANT, Counter-Strike, Rocket League and League of Legends will host notable global competitions to find the best teams in their respective games at 2025’s mid-way point.

July marks the start of the 2025 Esports World Cup, a multi-title esports tournament in Saudi Arabia. As such, a range of major esports events will be scheduled throughout the month. As of right now, the biggest events announced are the PUBG Mobile World Cup 2025 and its new Chess competition.

Alongside the continuation of the Esports World Cup, August will see titles such as Pokemon UNITE and GeoGuessr conclude their respective esports ecosystems.

September sees various Counter-Strike 2 competitions commence, including the ESL Pro League and the StarLadder StarSeries. However, headlining this month is the RLCS 2025 World Championship, which has yet to reveal its location.

So far, very little has been announced for October. However, the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, one of esports’ biggest events of the year, is set to be held in China with PGL hosting another significant Counter-Strike 2 tournament in Serbia.

November sees the conclusion of PUBG Mobile’s esports ecosystem, whilst Rainbow Six, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 all host notable competitions.

Written by: Tom Daniels & Olivia Richman