The global esports landscape in 2026 is a mature, complex, multi-billion-pound ecosystem. Yet, while the spotlight naturally shines brightest on the players lifting trophies on stage, there is an entire architecture of professionals behind the scenes who make things happen and keep the gears turning: the commercial minds, the technical innovators, the grassroots pioneers, the marketeers, the operational leaders and doubtless many more.
They deserve their share of recognition too. Enter the Esports Leaders Honours list.
With the awards ceremony for the inaugural edition taking place in Cologne on June 19th as an elite crown jewel of Global Esports Industry Week (GEIW) 2026, this new, annual platform is designed to shine a dedicated spotlight on professional excellence and celebrate exceptional contributions to esports worldwide. It represents a highly curated selection of the individuals, organisations, and breakthrough projects and businesses that have helped shape the industry through genuine backend impact, clever innovation, and standout leadership.
The setting for this inaugural celebration matches its ambition. Spanning the modern luxury of the Hyatt Regency and the historic prestige of Cologne City Hall, welcoming local diplomats, politicians, and the Mayor of Cologne, Torsten Burmester himself.
We sat down with The Insights Group CEO and GEIW/Esports Leaders Honours’ lead curator Sam Cooke to break down the philosophy behind this new industry benchmark.
The Catalyst for Professional Recognition
The Esports Radar (TER): The esports industry continues to grow at an incredible rate, but the public focus is almost always on the players and the on-stage talent. What specific gap did you see in how the business side of the ecosystem—the tech infrastructure, commercial minds, and operational leaders behind the scenes—was being highlighted that motivated the creation of the Esports Leaders Honours?
Sam Cooke: I definitely think we can and should do more as an industry to recognise the people and organisations that make it what it is, and celebrate the wins off stage. In my experience we’ve a tendency in esports to obsess over the problems and the issues, of which there are many, don’t get me wrong and of course they need addressing, but we shouldn’t let that cloud over everything.
Let’s let a bit of sunshine in. It’s my view that this remains a sector that many (most?) work in because they love it first and foremost, and they want to be a part of growing it as it matures.
Other awards shows, from Esports Awards to HLTV’s CS focused awards show, do a fantastic job of this already but we believe there’s a place for something more. Given what we do covering the industry day in day out at TER, and re our GEIW and Esports Leaders events, we see Honours as a natural extension and our way to do that and contribute to celebrating the wins!
TER: The six core categories feel like a deliberate map of a healthy, functioning industry. You balance macro-level milestones (Industry Development of the Year) with fundamental community building (Access & Grassroots Champions), alongside Product Innovation, Standout Advertising Campaigns, Rising Star, and the ultimate Esports Leaders. How did you land on these specific pillars as the definition of modern excellence?
Sam Cooke: Choosing the categories for this first one was a headache that’s for sure. A good one to have albeit, but a headache all the same. It’s our take that these categories best reflect some of those steering esports where it needs to go; from the ‘MVP award’ in the form of Esports Leader of the Year, to Product Innovation, Standout Advertising Campaigns and Grassroots and Accessibility Champion, Rising Star and Industry Development.
Have we missed some out? 100%. Is this as truly globally as it could and should be? No chance. We are aware of our limitations and this is why we sought out submissions from the public as best we could, alongside feedback in terms of which categories we should consider for the future.
There is a seventh special Honour too in the form of Local Hero which does not have a shortlist and will always be chosen by a relevant organisation well versed and relevant to wherever the awards ceremony is taking place that year. In this case, given that’s Germany it was a decision made by our friends at ESBD [E-Sport-Bund Deutschland], with the winner revealed on the night alongside the others!
TER: Why was it important to approach the curation process through the lens of dedicated industry observers for this first edition?
Sam Cooke: Regarding the process, post the public submissions, decisions were kept in-house at TER/Esports Leaders by design, given the parameters for this edition. Whether we open that up more to a judging panel in the future is to be decided, but one thing I know is that I want this to be more reflective of the international landscape next year, and better consider how we recognise the BTS talent and work industry wide.
We have shortlisted nominees from the US, Europe, Brazil and India, but given how global esports is, doing this justice was incredibly challenging for our small team.
I hope people celebrate those shortlisted as they should as everybody on those lists deserves to be there, and has worked extremely hard so we want this to be a platform that celebrates and recognises those efforts. Awards are difficult to get right, but going forward we’ll continue to hear out ideas, implement our own and build it up!
TER: When you look at nominees driving massive waves from varying countries and regions, like The MongolZ (Rising Star), SAGES Africa (Grassroots), or Croatia based Friendly Fire (Grassroots), how inspiring has it been to see that true leadership is being driven from all corners of the globe?
Sam Cooke: One of the bits I’ve loved the most honestly. I’ve been lucky to be able to travel a fair bit with my roles in esports over the past decade from New York City to Singapore, to Johannesburg, to Tbilisi, Riyadh, Como and Taipei, the list goes on. We sincerely want Honours to reflect the global nature of the beast as best we can and I’m pleased with how we did in this first edition, but I know we can do plenty more in the future.
There are some amazing stories from those in the shortlists this time around though; the work Ole Martin is doing with KRED Norge in Sarpsborg and Norway more widely is superb in terms of making esports and gaming a truly accessible and active part of the community for those of all ages, as is what Emanuele [Acerbis] has done with NOVO in Italy, and a massive shout out to David [Kosir] and his team at Friendly Fire who are running one of the most exciting franchises in esports full stop at this point, born out of a cafe brand in Croatia that believed that in-person gaming done right can work and thrive.
The work Sheridan and her team has done with College Esports News largely in the States is also hugely commendable, I think the collegiate esports space whilst fractured and with its own share of challenges, remains an enormously undervalued part of esports worldwide. I can’t finish this answer either without shouting out Désiré [Koussawo]’s work over the years and this year gone by, both in France and increasingly in countries throughout Africa, it deserves recognition and he is a man on a mission.
TER: Taking the final segment of the event into Cologne City Hall alongside local diplomats, policymakers, and the Mayor of Cologne is a massive statement. What does this deep level of support from the City of Cologne and KölnBusiness say about how esports leadership is viewed on a civic and political stage today?
Sam Cooke: Cologne is already an esports city, there’s no disputing that. With IEM a Major this year I believe tickets sold faster than ever, and the LANXESS will doubtless be hectic over the weekend. A couple of months after our show the city plays host to gamescom once again, so this isn’t a city where we had to ‘explain esports’ in any way, shape or form, but the support from both the city and KölnBusiness has been wonderful, and to have the chance to host part of our first awards at City Hall itself, it’s something we’ll remember for a long time that’s for sure!
We’ll have destinations in attendance too from the likes of Raleigh, North Carolina and Malta. These are two destinations who have embraced esports with open arms but who’ve taken sensible, strategic steps over the years and in turn had huge wins from it. The inclusion of Malta and BLAST’s studio and multi-year partnership in the Industry Development of the Year is a testament to this.
There’s no one size fits all when it comes to esports and destinations, as both of these will tell you but for now it’s all eyes on Cologne and we’re very excited to have the debut Esports Leaders Honours in town on 19th June!
The inaugural Esports Leaders Honours takes place on Friday, June 19th, in Cologne, Germany, as part of Global Esports Industry Week 2026.
Winners will be announced live on the night and via both The Esports Radar and Esports Leaders social channels. See more on the Honours page here: https://leaders.esportsradar.gg/.
Disclaimer: The Global Esports Industry Week and Esports Leaders Honours are initiatives with participation of The Esports Radar, part of The Insights Group.
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