Esports Virtual Arenas (EVA) announced the official launch of the EVA Pro League, aiming to elevate VR from an arcade novelty to a top-tier esports discipline. The league has secured an impressive lineup of eight prominent European organisations, with G2 Esports, Team Vitality, Team Heretics, SK Gaming, GiantX, Shifters, Solary, and OG Esports.

The announcement is a development from the 2026 roadmap disclosed in January. Set to kick off on 14 April, the circuit represents a leap for free-roaming VR, utilising 500 m² arenas where players must physically move, dodge, and sprint.

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The league aims to redefine the relationship between esports and physical sport by requiring genuine endurance and spatial body awareness from its competitors. Yassine Jaada, VP of Esports and Communications at EVA, noted that, after leading Paris Saint-Germain Esports for five years, he believes VR is the next arena for elite competition: “Today, as a game publisher, we are taking a step no one has yet dared to take: creating the first professional virtual reality competition bringing together eight major European clubs. VR is not a trend, it is the next arena for elite esports, and we will be the ones leading the way.”

This vision is supported by a unique territorial anchoring model where each club is tied to a specific city and venue. This creates a “home court” dynamic akin to traditional sports; for instance, Team Vitality will be based in Marseille, G2 Esports in Les Mureaux, Team Heretics in Madrid, and SK Gaming in Cologne, a strategy aimed at fomenting fans to identify with a specific region and club.

The financial model includes a €50,000 base prize pool, which will be bolstered by 25% of the revenue generated from exclusive club skin bundles sold to fans for €19.99. This community-driven approach, combined with the prestige of the participating clubs, signals a bold new chapter for immersive competitive gaming.

“EVA has laid the foundations for an innovative format that has proved a real hit with the public and is pushing the boundaries of esports by incorporating a unique physical dimension,” said Fabien “Neo” Devide, Co-Founder and President at Team Vitality. “By joining the competitive circuit, our ambition is now to help develop this league into a new benchmark for top-level competition.”

The competitive structure of the EVA Pro League will run from 14 April to 25 October 2026, featuring a full home-and-away round-robin format with matches played as Best-of-3 series. EVA’s proprietary technology allows teams to play simultaneously from two different locations while interacting in the same virtual environment, with the top four teams qualifying for the EVA Summit playoffs in late October.

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