The Esports Awards is an annual international awards ceremony that recognizes achievements across the competitive gaming industry. Established in 2016 as the eSports Industry Awards, the event was rebranded to the Esports Awards in 2018.
The ceremony features a broad range of competitive gaming as well as creative categories, combines public voting with panel-selected judging, and is broadcast live across digital and social media platforms.
Over the years, the Esports Awards has grown into one of the most recognized events in the gaming industry, with ceremonies held in London, Arlington, and Riyadh, among other global locations. The event has partnered with several brands over the years, including Lexus, Verizon, Razer, and Secretlab.
The Esports Awards began in 2016 under the name eSports Industry Awards, with its inaugural ceremony held in London, United Kingdom.The inaugural ceremony featured 18 categories covering esports players, teams, organizations, and media figures in the competitive gaming scene.
In 2017, the organisers officially registered the shorter title Esports Awards, marking the first steps toward a rebrand. However, the complete transition to the new name was done in 2018, by which time the "Industry" label had been fully removed from the official logo and other brand materials.
Following several UK editions, the awards expanded geographically and commercially. In 2019 the organisation staged a ceremony at Esports Stadium Arlington in Texas, marking a strategic move into the United States market.
In 2021, the Esports Awards announced a complete rebrand ahead of that year's ceremony in Arlington, Texas. The updated logo featured a silhouette of the new trophy design.
From 2021 onward, the Esports Awards increased its production scale, commercial partnerships and global footprint. The 2021 ceremony at Esports Stadium Arlington reported large viewership, attracting over 20 million global viewers. In 2022, they relocated to Resorts World Las Vegas, marking its debut in Nevada, and returned to the same venue in 2023.
In 2023, Esports Awards and Xfinity set the Guinness World Record for the largest digital videogame display. The record-breaking installation consisted of 3,552 LED panels covering approximately 7,673 m<sup>2</sup>.
In June 2024, the Esports Awards announced a multi-year partnership with the Esports World Cup Foundation. The agreement covers a three-year collaboration beginning with the 2024 Esports World Cup, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In 2025, marking the tenth anniversary of the Esports Awards, organisers introduced the inaugural Esports Decade Awards. This standalone series of honours recognised players, teams, organisations, games and events that made the most significant impact over the past decade. Meanwhile, the standard yearly Esports Awards ceremony for 2025 is also scheduled to take place later the same year.
Over the years, Esports Awards has featured a broad and evolving slate of honours. Some categories are introduced, retired, or merged depending on industry trends. Meanwhile, here are a few core categories that have persisted since the beginning.
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During the 2018 ceremony, YouTuber Deji Olatunji, the younger brother of KSI, mistakenly announced Epic Games as the winner of Esports Publisher of the Year. Moments later, he revealed it had been a joke and corrected himself, announcing Blizzard Entertainment as the actual winner. The incident drew criticism from attendees and viewers who considered it unprofessional and disrespectful.
In 2024, the three-year partnership announcement between Esports Awards and the Esports World Cup Foundation provoked significant backlash from the esports community. Several commentators and industry figures expressed concern over the new partnership. Some members of the Esports Awards panel stepped down following the announcement. During the same period, Silviu Stroie, the CEO of PGL Esports announced they were withdrawing from the Esports Awards after being nominated for the Broadcast/Production Team of the Year award, stating that the event âÂÂhas lost its credibility.âÂÂ