The Players editorial team has prepared a digest of the main news for January 31, 2026.
The First Day of the Second Stage of IEM Kraków 2026 Has Concluded — NAVI and FUT Advance
- The group stage of IEM Kraków 2026 kicked off with exciting matches, with Natus Vincere and FUT Esports in the spotlight. Both teams got off to a confident start at the tournament and took an important step toward the playoffs.
Tim Sweeney sided with the $900 million lawsuit against Valve
- Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has publicly supported a large-scale lawsuit against Valve, which was recently approved by a UK court. Gabe Newell’s company is accused of abusing its monopoly position and inflating prices on Steam.
B8 returned segukawa to the academy
- Ukrainian esports organization B8 announced that it is returning segukawa to its CS2 academy roster. The club reported this on its social media.
FISSURE confirmed delays in prize money payments from last year’s tournaments
- The head of the CS department at 100 Thieves, messioso, stated that Russian tournament operator FISSURE has still not paid out all prize money for last year’s tournaments. According to him, receiving payments from the organization has become extremely difficult — many teams are still waiting for responses, and the payment deadlines are already significantly overdue. In response, FISSURE published an official statement explaining the situation with the delays. The organization emphasized that it maintains constant contact with teams through official channels and that paying out prize money remains a priority.