Fabien Devide, EVA Top Winners at Esports Leaders Honours

The inaugural Esports Leaders Honours took place on 19 June in Cologne, with events at the Hyatt Regency and Cologne City Hall. The ceremony was part of Global Esports Industry Week.

Fabien “neo” Devide, co-founder of Team Vitality, received the Esports Leader award. Team Vitality’s campaign with sponsor Stake won the Standout Esports Advertising Campaign category. EVA (Esports Virtual Arenas) won Best Product Innovation for its work building structured competitive virtual reality leagues and for recent expansion and fundraising.

Emanuele Acerbis, CEO and co-founder of NOVO Esports, was named Rising Star in Esports. The newly launched Esports Nations Cup won Industry Development of the Year. Leipzig eSports received the Local Hero award for its contribution to the local esports community. Ole Martin Gjestad of KRED Norge won Access and Grassroots Champion, with an honourable mention for Mags Byrne of EStars.

Shortlists covered commercial campaigns, hardware and software products, and major industry developments. Entries included team partnerships with entertainment properties, products from Logitech G and ZOWIE by BenQ, and new platforms such as Runestone and UNEVN. Industry Development contenders referenced Riot Games opening betting sponsorships in EMEA and the Americas, Qiddiya-owned RTS’s acquisition of Evo, investment groups pursuing Electronic Arts, the Savvy Games Group acquisition of MOONTON Games, India’s formal recognition and regulation of esports, and a BLAST partnership with GamingMalta.

Organisers described the awards as recognising contributions beyond match results, highlighting projects that increase access, introduce new products and support the wider esports ecosystem. Two categories included honourable mentions to reflect close competition.

The ceremony was part of the GEIW programme, which brought together stakeholders from esports, gaming, sport, technology and entertainment for panels and discussions across the week. Full shortlists and winners were published as part of the event coverage.

Winners included teams, event operators, industry executives and grassroots organisers, reflecting activity across commercial campaigns, product launches and community initiatives over the past year.