Shortlists announced for Esports Leaders Honours in Cologne

Organizers released the shortlists for the first Esports Leaders Honours, part of Global Esports Industry Week (GEIW) 2026. Winners will be announced June 19 at Cologne City Hall (Kölner Rathaus) during an invitation-only evening attended by Lord Mayor Torsten Burmester.

The ceremony takes place while GEIW runs June 18–21 alongside IEM Cologne. The event’s title partner is Runestone and ESL FACEIT Group is the host partner; supporting partners include ZOWIE and Abios, and strategic partners include E-Sport-Bund Deutschland and the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Arbitration and Mediation Centre.

Nominees were selected following an open public call and review by a panel from The Esports Radar team. Shortlists were published across categories, including Esports Leader, Rising Star in Esports, Standout Esports Advertising Campaigns, Best Product Innovation in Esports, Access & Grassroots Champions in Esports, and Industry Development of the Year. Shortlisted names cover publishers, teams, tournament operators, brands and grassroots figures.

The Esports Leader list includes Ralf Reichert and Fabien “neo” Devide among others. The Rising Star shortlist features Bilguunbat Enkhbayar of The MongolZ and Emanuele Acerbis of NOVO Esports. Access and grassroots nominees include Stefy Bau of Init Esports, Jon Winkle of EPIC.LAN and David Kosir of Friendly Fire.

Advertising campaign nominees range from DHL’s collaboration with ESL on “The Dispatch” to G2’s tie-up with Solo Leveling via Crunchyroll and Team Liquid’s project with Magnus Carlsen. Product innovation contenders include Logitech G’s ProX2 Superstrike mouse, ZOWIE by BenQ, UNEVN’s BASE PC solution and EVA (Esports Virtual Arenas).

The Industry Development of the Year shortlist lists several market and regulatory items: BLAST’s multi-year partnership with GamingMalta to build a permanent studio, the launch of the Esports Nations Cup, India’s new rules recognising esports under its Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the reported $6 billion sale of Mobile Legends creator Moonton to Savvy Games Group, Qiddiya-owned RTS’s full acquisition of Evo, Riot Games opening to betting sponsors in some regions, and the proposed $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts by PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners.

The Local Hero category will not have a public shortlist; E-Sport-Bund Deutschland will select the winner for this edition to recognize an individual who has contributed to local esports in Germany. Sam Cooke, chief executive of The Insights Group, described the selection process as extremely difficult and noted the organisers plan to expand the Honours platform in future editions.