The Esports Radar has lifted the lid on the shortlists for the inaugural Esports Leaders Honours, with EA, BLAST, Team Vitality, G2, Heroic, EFG, Logitech G and The MongolZ among the names in the running across six categories. Winners will be announced live at Cologne City Hall on Friday 19 June 2026, with Lord Mayor Torsten Burmester in attendance as part of Global Esports Industry Week.
The new awards programme is positioned as a year-in-review platform for the people, organisations and projects that defined esports over the past 12 months. It sits alongside IEM Cologne, the long-running Counter-Strike tournament that anchors GEIW each summer.
What The Esports Leaders Honours Actually Is
Esports Leaders Honours is a brand new awards platform created by The Esports Radar, the editorial arm of The Insights Group. The idea is to run a curated, annual list rather than a fan-vote popularity contest, with shortlists chosen by The Esports Radar team following an open public call for submissions.
Six standing categories make up the main awards: Esports Leader, Rising Star in Esports, Standout Esports Advertising Campaigns, Best Product Innovation in Esports, Access and Grassroots Champions in Esports, and Industry Development of the Year. A seventh category, Local Hero, rotates based on the host city and does not carry a public shortlist. For the Cologne edition, German federation E-Sport-Bund Deutschland (ESBD) has been brought in to pick the local winner.
The ceremony itself is an invitation-only evening event running from 18:30 to 21:30 CET at Kölner Rathaus, with the awards handed out on the main stage between 19:00 and 20:30.
The Esports Leader Shortlist
The headline category puts eight senior figures in contention, spanning publishers, tournament organisers, federations and team ownership. The lineup leans heavily on people who have spent years building infrastructure around the competitive scene rather than newer arrivals.
- Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder, NODWIN Gaming
- Anna Rozwandowicz, Founder and CEO, The Story Mob
- Fabien ‘neo’ Devide, Co-owner and CEO, Team Vitality
- HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, Chairman, Saudi Esports Federation
- Monica Dinsmore, Head of Esports, Electronic Arts
- Niccolo Maisto, CEO, ESL FACEIT Group
- Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports Foundation
- Robbie Douek, CEO, BLAST
Rising Star In Esports
The Rising Star list mixes team founders with operators working further down the pipeline in education, partnerships and media. Notably, Bilguunbat Enkhbayar’s inclusion comes off the back of a breakout year for The MongolZ on the Counter-Strike circuit.
- Bilguunbat Enkhbayar, Co-Founder and CEO, The MongolZ
- Emanuele Acerbis, CEO and 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 and Gaming, Octagon
- Sheridan McGuire, Founder, College Esports News
Standout Esports Advertising Campaigns
This category looks at brand work that landed with esports audiences over the past year. Team Vitality is the only org with two campaigns on the list, picking up nods for both its Nescafé Latte activation and its more controversial Stake partnership.
- DHL x EFG x Chew Productions, The Dispatch
- G2 x Solo Leveling, in partnership with 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
Hardware, analytics platforms and venue infrastructure all sit in the same category here, which gives a decent snapshot of where money is actually being spent in the back end of the industry.
DPM LOL
The League of Legends stats platform co-founded with content creator Caedrel makes the cut on the back of its new Esports Hub, pitched as a single destination for LoL competitive data.
EVA
Esports Virtual Arenas is recognised for the expansion of its physical venues, a fresh fundraising round, and the launch of its Challenger and Pro Leagues. The Pro League roster includes G2, Team Vitality, GIANTX and SK Gaming.
Logitech G
The peripherals giant is shortlisted for the Pro X2 Superstrike mouse and its broader spend on sports science work tied to pro performance.
Runestone
Also the Title Partner of GEIW 2026 itself, Runestone makes the list for partnerships signed with PGL, StarLadder and NODWIN since its launch.
Shikenso
The sponsorship analytics company is included for its continued work on Campaign, its real-time media value measurement product covering multiple content formats.
UNEVN
UNEVN’s nomination centres on its BASE PC Solution, designed to make it easier for smaller operators to stand up gaming and esports infrastructure.
ZOWIE By BenQ
BenQ’s gaming arm is recognised for ongoing investment in the ZOWIE Sports Science Labs and equipment development work with pro players.
Access And Grassroots Champions In Esports
The grassroots category leans toward founders and community builders rather than corporate operators, with a mix of regional initiatives represented from Norway, Africa, the UK and beyond.
- 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
Industry Development Of The Year
This is arguably the most loaded shortlist, with several entries representing nine and ten-figure deals that have reshaped ownership across the sector. The PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners bid for Electronic Arts sits at a reported valuation of around 55 billion US dollars, while Savvy Games Group’s acquisition of Moonton, the studio behind Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, was valued at roughly 6 billion US dollars.
- BLAST and GamingMalta’s multi-year partnership, including a permanent studio of over 1,000 square metres
- The launch of the Esports Nations Cup
- India’s new rules formally recognising esports as sport under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
- Savvy Games Group’s acquisition of Moonton at around 6 billion US dollars
- Qiddiya-owned RTS fully acquiring Evo
- Riot Games opening up to betting sponsors in EMEA and the Americas
- PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners’ move to acquire EA for 55 billion US dollars
How Winners Are Being Picked
According to the organisers, the shortlists were drawn up by a panel from The Esports Radar after a public submissions window, rather than through an open vote. Winners across all categories will only be revealed on the night in Cologne.
Sam Cooke, CEO of The Insights Group, framed the cut as deliberately tight. “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,” he said, adding that the platform is intended to scale into something more globally representative after this first edition.
GEIW 2026 And The Wider Cologne Week
The Honours ceremony is one piece of Global Esports Industry Week, which runs in parallel with IEM Cologne at the Lanxess Arena. ESL FACEIT Group is the Host Partner for the week, with Runestone signed on as Title Partner and ZOWIE and Abios as Supporting Partners. Strategic partners include ESBD, the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Arbitration and Mediation Centre, and the International Games and Esports Tribunal.
For viewers outside the room, the ceremony is invitation-only, but updates from the night will run through The Esports Radar’s LinkedIn and X channels.
What Happens After June 19
Cooke has already signalled that the platform will be reworked after the Cologne edition, with a stated ambition to make future editions more representative of esports globally. That suggests both the category structure and the geographic spread of nominees could shift before the next run, which is worth watching given how Europe-heavy this first shortlist skews outside of NODWIN, The MongolZ and the Saudi Esports Federation entries.