The Players team has prepared a digest of the main news for January 24, 2026.
2XKO announces its esports calendar for 2026
- Riot Games has unveiled the full esports roadmap for 2026 for its fighting game 2XKO. The 2XKO Competitive Series will include 5 major events and 15 Challenger series tournaments. All events are sponsored by Riot and held in partnership with community organizers.
NAF to miss IEM Kraków, Krimbo to replace him
- Team Liquid announced that Keith “NAF” Markovic will not be able to participate in IEM Kraków 2026 in CS2. The player will miss the tournament due to “urgent family matters.”
Overwatch 2 taken over by the Talon organization — large-scale event announced
- Blizzard has launched an unexpected marketing campaign for an unannounced Overwatch 2 event. Reports claim that the terrorist organization Talon has allegedly taken control of the game’s official resources. The game’s Instagram, Facebook, and X accounts have changed their logos to Talon symbolism.
s1mple — the most popular CS2 player on Liquipedia in 2025
- Ukrainian esports player s1mple topped the ranking of the most visited CS2 player pages on Liquipedia based on the results of 2025.
Vitality and FURIA eliminated from BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1
- FURIA ended their run at BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 after a loss to parivision. Falcons advanced to the grand final of BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1, defeating Vitality 2–1. parivision will fight for the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 title in a match against Falcons.
