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BGMS Season 5: Schedule, Teams, Format, and More

Aditya Parsutkar
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BGMS Season 5: Schedule, Teams, Format, and More

The BGMI Masters Series Season 5 (BGMS 2026) has officially been announced by NODWIN Gaming. One of India’s biggest BGMI esports tournaments will return on August 10, featuring 24 teams battling over four weeks for the championship title. The tournament will conclude with the Grand Finals from September 4 to 6, 2026. While NODWIN has confirmed the complete tournament schedule, details regarding the participating teams, prize pool, broadcast timings, and full format will be revealed at a later date.

BGMI Masters Series Season 5 (BGMS 2026) announced

NODWIN Gaming confirmed that BGMS Season 5 will begin on August 10 and continue until September 6. The tournament will feature 24 invited teams competing across multiple stages, including League Weeks, Bounty Weekend, Super Weekends, Playoffs, and the Grand Finals.

According to NODWIN Gaming, the new season introduces a refreshed competitive format that rewards consistency throughout the tournament, ensuring every match plays an important role in determining the finalists.

Speaking about the announcement, Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming, said the tournament has become one of the most important competitive platforms for BGMI esports in India since its launch. He added that the fifth season aims to provide another month of top-level competition featuring the country’s best teams and players.

BGMS 2026 schedule

StageDates
League Week 1August 10–13
Bounty WeekendAugust 14–16
League Week 2August 17–20
Super Weekend 1August 21–23
League Week 3August 24–27
Super Weekend 2August 28–30
PlayoffsAugust 31–September 2
Grand FinalsSeptember 4–6

The tournament begins with three League Weeks, separated by a Bounty Weekend and two Super Weekends. The top-performing teams will then move on to the Playoffs before competing in the Grand Finals.

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Teams, format, prize pool, and live stream

NODWIN Gaming has confirmed that 24 teams will participate in BGMS Season 5. However, the complete list of teams, tournament format, prize pool, and broadcast schedule have not been announced yet.

The organizer stated that these details will be shared in the coming days before the tournament begins.

BGMS has grown into one of India’s flagship BGMI esports tournaments over the past few years. With Season 5 introducing a refreshed format and another month of competitive action, fans can expect some of the country’s top BGMI teams to compete for the championship when the tournament kicks off on August 10.

EA FC 27 Devs Respond to Backlash Over New Ultimate Team

Sarjyo Mukherjee
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EA FC 27 Devs Respond to Backlash Over New Ultimate Team

EA isn’t pretending FC 26‘s Ultimate Team went smoothly, according to their recent interview with Dexerto ahead of FC 27’s launch with Senior Lead Game Product Manager Jamey Cane.

Ultimate Team is the mode that keeps EA Sports FC afloat every year, given it is what earns EA the big bucks and at the same time attracts the biggest player base for the game. Being the highlight of the game, millions of players buy it every year just to play this, and when their voices were unanswered, the developers were subjected to backlash for ignoring the community.

Cane has admitted that the launch had real momentum behind it only for it to come crashing down as the year progressed. The core player base expressed disappointment, especially due to the lack of content, which made the game feel flat. Players expect new content or areas to explore after EA charges a fortune for the game every year.

Many have even accused EA of shipping the same game with a new number every year, given how marginal the improvements are, which makes players feel that the game is not worth all the money. Given how EA FC is one of EA’s most profitable games, going dark on the community in the middle of the year is bound to leave some resentment.

“We’d drawn a line in the sand and said we were going to communicate better with players at the start of the year. We just didn’t deliver on those promises,” said Cane.

“That’s something we’re looking to address as we get into FC 27. [We want to] action some of that feedback that those core players were telling us was leading to them being more frustrated and not engaging with the title as much,”  he added.

For their plan to remedy the situation, EA plans to take two major steps with the latest iteration of the game, in which they will hunt down the reasons that are driving the players away and, at the same time, they will be open to working on the grievances expressed by the community.

Admission of their negligence is something we rarely get to see from these giants, but to see that EA has accepted their oversight and plans to remedy it gives hope to fans who love the game and football with all their hearts. Only time can tell how their plan to improve EA FC pans out with FC 27, but everything in the interview points to a bright year for our favourite football simulation game.

Perfecto Enters Free Agency Following Virtus.pro Departure

Sarjyo Mukherjee
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Perfecto Enters Free Agency Following Virtus.pro Departure

Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy is back on the open market following his departure from Virtus.pro, a move that failed to deliver on the massive expectations that the community set on it. VP announced that the veteran Russian rifler has left the organisation after a year on the roster, closing an underwhelming chapter for the once-storied Major winner.

Virtus.pro announced his departure on X, confirming that he is now free to chase opportunities without a release clause keeping him with them. The move ends a stint that began in June 2025, when Perfecto was signed to replace Timur “FL4MUS” Marev after his benching, when he was expected to bring his talents and experience to build a roster that would compete at the highest level of the game.

VP were already trending downward when Perfecto joined, and his arrival did little to reverse the slide. With a plethora of changes around the roster, the leadership duties were forced on Perfecto, which not only caused his individual level to drop but also caused the team to suffer due to a lack of direction and proper planning, with the course of the latest seasons witnessing disappointing results, early exits, and poor performances.

Following a disappointing start to the 2026 Season, the organisation benched Perfecto alongside Evgenii “FL1T” Lebedev and Petr “fame” Bolyshev, opting instead to rebuild the roster around two academy players. With all teams set for the season, Perfecto failed to find a suitable opportunity that would put his career back on track, and finally he got his exit, which will allow him to chase free opportunities.

As a veteran with a cabinet full of trophies, Perfecto has seen his career go in a way that even seasoned pundits would have failed to predict, leaving him with nothing but sad stories following his peak with NAVI, where he enjoyed his place at the highest level of the game. His career is a testament to how fast the CS2 community moves on following a few seasons without notable performances.

For now, Perfecto remains unattached, and his next move could shape the next chapter of his CS2 career.

Xbox Isn’t Quitting Steam: Report

Aritra Patra
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Xbox Isn’t Quitting Steam: Report

Xbox Steam rumors have been swirling since the weekend, after comments from a Windows Central podcast got taken out of context online. Microsoft is not planning to pull Xbox games off Steam, according to a report from Windows Central’s Jez Corden published on August 3, 2026. Instead, the company is expanding its overall PC gaming footprint through Battle.net, the Xbox PC app, and a new disc-to-digital conversion tool.

Here’s everything confirmed so far, and what it means for PC players.

Xbox Steam Rumors: What Started the Confusion

The rumors began after Corden commented on the Xbox Two Podcast over the weekend. Some news aggregators took the remark out of context, and it snowballed into claims that Microsoft was exploring an exit from Steam entirely.

Corden clarified in his August 3 report that Xbox is absolutely not exploring a Steam exit right now, though there is reason to think Microsoft is reevaluating how it engages with Windows gaming overall.

Gears of War: E-Day is a good example of the current balance. The game will be exclusive to Xbox Series X|S on console, cutting PlayStation out entirely. On PC, though, it’s still launching on both Steam and the Xbox PC app.

Why PC Gaming Matters More to Xbox Right Now

Component prices have made Xbox Series X|S hardware a tough sell for many buyers during the ongoing memory crisis. Microsoft isn’t expecting to move much of its own hardware for now, so reaching players on PC, without abandoning consoles entirely, appears to be the priority.

Xbox Game Pass remains central to that PC push. It’s designed to reach a different audience than Steam. Players who lean toward free-to-play titles or who are more focused on value.

Microsoft is also investing in the Xbox PC app itself. It now includes Xbox Mode, which brings a console-style, controller-focused interface to Xbox handhelds and Windows 11 PCs. The Windows 11 team has separately said it plans to keep optimizing the OS for gaming performance, partly to close the gap with SteamOS and Linux, which have shown notable performance advantages over Windows in recent years.

Battle.net Could Open Up to Third-Party Developers

One of the bigger claims in the report involves Battle.net. According to Corden, Microsoft and Blizzard have been planning to open Battle.net to third-party developers, though it’s unclear if that plan still stands under new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. Corden added he hasn’t seen evidence the plan was scrapped.

Sharma took over as CEO of Xbox in February 2026, replacing longtime head Phil Spencer. She previously led product development for Microsoft’s CoreAI division and has since focused heavily on margin growth and first-party exclusives for the Xbox brand.

Battle.net already has a large monthly user base and effectively has its own exclusives in World of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm. Microsoft has also tested launching some Xbox titles through the platform, including Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and DOOM: The Dark Ages.

Xbox is working with other publishers too. Ubisoft and EA are reportedly integrating their own PC stores with the Xbox ecosystem, and Ubisoft has already started giving PC copies of some games for free to console owners on select titles.

Xbox Positron: The Disc-to-Digital Program Coming in August

Microsoft is also developing a system called Positron, which converts disc-based Xbox games into digital licenses tied to a player’s Microsoft account. It will work with games that support Xbox Play Anywhere, a feature currently found on roughly half of new Xbox releases.

According to the report, Positron is expected to be revealed sometime in August 2026, though a release date hasn’t been confirmed. It won’t cover every disc-based Xbox 360, Xbox One, or Series X|S game, since publisher licensing agreements will determine what’s eligible.

Microsoft recently shipped a backward compatibility emulator for PC covering four original Xbox titles, including Conker, Blinx, and Crimson Skies. Future updates are expected to add Xbox 360 games as well, which could bring several classics to PC for the first time.

Xbox’s PC store still has gaps. Some third-party titles, like Diablo IV, don’t support Xbox Play Anywhere, and certain Ubisoft games on PC don’t support Xbox achievements. Indie developers have also been slow to adopt the platform, largely due to certification requirements.

Even so, Corden noted that the Xbox PC store now accounts for roughly half of his own play time, a notable shift from just a few years ago. As far as confirmed information goes, Microsoft has no plans to remove Xbox games from Steam. The company appears focused on growing its PC presence across multiple fronts rather than consolidating around a single storefront.

Valorant Players Discover Game-Breaking Bug With Cypher’s Cage

Sonu Banerjee
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Valorant Players Discover Game-Breaking Bug With Cypher’s Cage

Valorant players have reportedly discovered a game-breaking bug involving Cypher, with one of his abilities potentially being able to make your team immune to certain enemy utility.

The bug in question was brought to light by prominent Valorant leaker and dataminer ‘valohabercisi,’ who showcases this bug in one of their recent X posts.

As seen in the video, the bug can be triggered with Cypher’s “Cyber Cage” ability. According to the leaker, enemy utility like Sova’s “Recon Bolt” will be completely unable to affect players that are inside the cage.

We’ve also seen instances of other forms of utility, like Fade’s Prowler and Raze’s Boom Bot, not detecting enemies that are inside Cypher’s cage.

Many players claim that this game-breaking Cypher bug has been in Valorant for quite some time, but it has seemingly dodged Riot’s attention.

Valorant players have urged the devs to address this Cypher bug at the earliest, arguing that it is compromising the game’s competitive integrity.

Riot Games hasn’t made an official statement regarding this bug at the time of writing.

Once the devs take note of this Cypher bug, it’s possible that the Moroccan Sentinel will be temporarily removed from the Valorant Agent roster as Riot works on fixing the problem.

Only a couple of days ago, Waylay found herself getting removed from the Valorant roster due to a visual bug. She has yet to make her return to the game.

Valorant players are looking forward to seeing Riot’s next move regarding Cypher and this game-breaking bug involving his Cyber Cage.

Fortnite Gaming Legends Season Teased With Pac-Man Easter Egg

Aritra Patra
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Fortnite Gaming Legends Season Teased With Pac-Man Easter Egg

Fortnite Gaming Legends season buzz just got louder after players found a hidden audio clue at the Wonkeeland point of interest. Epic Games has not confirmed anything officially, but the teaser lines up with weeks of leaked details about a video game crossover theme for the next season.

Leaker ShiinaBR first spotted the clue on August 1, and it involves Pac-Man’s classic arcade music playing at Wonkeeland. It arrives as Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 heads toward its final weeks, with Season 4 expected to bring several gaming icons into the battle royale.

Fortnite Gaming Legends Season Teaser Found at Wonkeeland

Players discovered that Pac-Man’s intro theme now loops at the Wonkeeland POI in Fortnite. Leaker ShiinaBR shared the find on X on August 1, 2026, crediting players DanielGame47 and x103p with first noticing it. The post labeled it “Teaser #1” for the Gaming Legends season.

It is not yet clear how Pac-Man will factor into the game. The character does not fit neatly into a skin or weapon the way other collabs have. Epic Games has repeatedly found creative ways to fold outside franchises into Fortnite, so a direct tie-in remains possible.

Wonkeeland has been reworked for crossovers before. During the South Park collab earlier this year, the POI was renamed Cartmanland. A similar Pac-Man-themed transformation would not be a first for the location.

Data miners ShiinaBR and HYPEX have pulled several names directly from Fortnite’s game files ahead of an official reveal. The characters linked to the rumored Gaming Legends season include:

FranchiseCharacter
Sonic the HedgehogSonic, Dr. Eggman
Persona 5Joker
Mega ManMega Man
TetrisTetris blocks/theme
Pac-ManPac-Man

Epic Games has not confirmed any of these names. Datamined files can change before launch, so the final roster may differ from what has leaked so far.

When Does Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 Start

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3, titled “Runners,” is scheduled to end on August 19, 2026. Chapter 7 Season 4 is expected to begin the same day after the usual maintenance downtime. This upcoming season is set to be the penultimate season of Fortnite’s current chapter.

Pac-Man has crossed over with Fortnite once before. The character appeared as a limited-time reactive Back Bling during Chapter 3. A full Gaming Legends season would mark a much bigger role for the arcade icon and several other classic gaming franchises.

Epic Games typically ramps up official teasers in the weeks before a new season, so players can expect further hints or a reveal trailer as the August 19 launch date approaches.

Fortnite DMA Cheat Seller Banned After Epic Games Lawsuit

MOUZ Wins BLAST Bounty Season 2 2026

Sarjyo Mukherjee
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MOUZ Wins BLAST Bounty Season 2 2026

MOUZ is the winner of BLAST Bounty Season 2 2026, beating Team Spirit with a 3-1 scoreline to bag their first trophy of the season. With doubts lingering over the squad following a roster refresh, this trophy lifts a lot of weight from the shoulders of the young players.

VETO

  • Spirit removed Inferno
  • MOUZ removed Anubis
  • Spirit picked Dust2
  • MOUZ picked Mirage
  • Spirit picked Ancient
  • MOUZ picked Nuke
  • Cache was left over

Map 1: Dust2; Pick: Spirit; Winner: MOUZ

A 4-0 start for MOUZ set the tone for the game on defense, with Spirit struggling to get going. Winning their first round with a 1v3 donk, the team managed to close out with a respectable 5-7 deficit. The lead from MOUZ was extended further following their pistol round conversion in the second half, which saw the team go further ahead as Spirit played chase. Despite them managing to close the lead, MOUZ broke their economy, leading to a 3-round streak that closed the game 13-8 on the scoreboard, having spinx topping the charts with 23 kills.

Map 2: Mirage; Pick: MOUZ; Winner: MOUZ

Losing out to a MOUZ force, Spirit gave away their momentum only to fall further behind. As MOUZ continued to dominate, their offense picked Spirit apart to post an extremely one-sided 8-4 scoreline. With Spirit already struggling, MOUZ put up the perfect defense we have seen from them in recent times, keeping Spirit at bay for 5 rounds in a row to close out the game with a 13-4 scoreline. Yet another chart-topping performance from Sphinx, only for the MOUZ cast to put up a better show holistically.

Map 3: Ancient; Pick: Spirit; Winner: Spirit

A 4-0 start from Spirit on the offence gave them some much-needed hope moving forward, only for them to give away the lead. Winning the final round ensured the half closed with a levelled scoreline before MOUZ started on a stronger foot with a pistol round conversion. Spirit took charge of the game late in the second half, which saw the game get turned on its head as Spirit took the lead and closed the game thanks to donk finding form late in the series.

Map 4: Nuke; Pick: MOUZ; Winner: MOUZ

A shaky start to the game saw the momentum sway between both sides, only for MOUZ to take the lead with a 7-5 scoreline by the end of the first half. Spirit took the lead off the back of a pistol conversion, only for MOUZ’s defense to take it back with the first gun round. Despite Spirit’s promising offence, MOUZ outclassed them with a solid CT side to close out the game with a 13-10 scoreline.

With MOUZ winning their last trophy back in 2025, this should help boost the confidence with the freshly minted lineup. A hard decision was taken when refreshing the roster, but the goal was achieved early on in the season. Delivering similar results at bigger events is what they have their eyes on, and for this is exactly what they needed.

New CS2 Bug Lets Players Throw Grenades Through Walls

Sonu Banerjee
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New CS2 Bug Lets Players Throw Grenades Through Walls

Counter-Strike 2 players have discovered a new game-breaking bug that lets you throw grenades through walls.

The bug in question can be replicated on any map in the game, but only in specific spots. Upon executing it successfully, you’ll be able to throw grenades, molotovs, and other utility through walls and cause serious damage to players on the other side.

CS2 Grenade Bug

The latest CS2 grenade bug abuses the crouch-jump mechanic in the game to send grenades flying through walls. When timed properly, you’ll be able to see your grenade disappear inside the wall and wreak havoc on the other side.

This bug only works in places where the ceiling is low enough for you to be able to hit it when crouch-jumping and throwing your grenade. The vents on Nuke are perhaps one of the most prominent spots where players have been abusing the bug, but there are other popular spots across most maps in the current rotation.

Needless to say, it’s strongly advised for players to refrain from abusing this bug in ranked games since it can get your account banned. If you find someone using it in your games, be sure to report them to Valve.

CS2 players have urged Valve to fix this issue at the earliest for the sake of the shooter’s competitive integrity.

Revenant XSpark Announces Lenovo Legion as Official Jersey Partner

Divyesh Moghe
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Revenant XSpark Announces Lenovo Legion as Official Jersey Partner

Revenant XSpark has announced Lenovo Legion as its official jersey partner. The organisation revealed the partnership through an Instagram post on August 2, 2026, with the caption “It’s time we Reach our Impossible” alongside the hashtags #Lenovo, #LenovoLegion, #ReachYourImpossible, and #WolvenSpark. The new jersey features a dark purple base with the Lenovo Legion branding prominently placed across the chest and shoulders of the RNTX roster.

Revenant XSpark x Lenovo Legion: What We Know

The partnership makes Lenovo Legion the official jersey partner of Revenant XSpark. This means Lenovo Legion branding will appear on the organisation’s jerseys across all competitive titles and content appearances going forward.

The announcement image features RNTX players wearing the new purple jersey with the Lenovo Legion logo on the front alongside existing sponsors iQOO, AMD, and EYE7. The jersey also carries the RNTX wolf logo and the WolvenSpark identity the organisation adopted when it unveiled its new branding in April 2026.

The timing of this deal is not accidental. Revenant XSpark is currently competing at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris across multiple titles, including the Honor of Kings World Cup 2026, where the team qualified directly for the Group Stage. The organisation also has rosters in BGMI, Free Fire MAX, Mobile Legends, Brawl Stars, and VALORANT.

Why Lenovo Legion

Lenovo Legion is one of the biggest names in gaming hardware. The brand is also the official PC and gaming hardware partner of the Esports World Cup 2026, providing Legion desktop PCs and monitors for competitions, training areas, broadcast studios, and festival zones across the seven-week Paris event.

An RNTX jersey partner deal gives Lenovo Legion direct visibility on one of India’s most active esports rosters at the exact moment both parties are present at the same international event. For Revenant XSpark, having a global gaming hardware brand on the jersey adds commercial weight alongside existing partners iQOO, AMD, and EYE7.

Community response to the announcement was immediate. One of the top comments on the Instagram post noted: “Apart from RNTX, no organization in India has this many sponsors.”

Revenant XSpark’s Growing Partner Portfolio

Lenovo Legion joins an existing list of commercial partners for Revenant XSpark:

PartnerCategory
iQOOMobile devices
AMDHardware / Processing
EYE7Eyewear
Lenovo LegionGaming hardware (Jersey Partner)

Revenant XSpark has built one of the largest sponsor portfolios of any Indian esports organisation. The organisation was formed in late 2024 through the merger of Revenant Esports and Team XSpark, with Scout (Tanmay Singh) as brand ambassador and co-owner. Since then, the organisation has expanded aggressively across titles and partnerships.

BLAST Bounty Malta Semi-Finals Recap

Sarjyo Mukherjee
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BLAST Bounty Malta Semi-Finals Recap

The BLAST Bounty grand final is set. Spirit booked their place following a close 2-1 win over FaZe in the day’s first semi-final, surviving a Cache comeback from their opponents before closing it out on Anubis. MOUZ secured back-to-back maps following a loss in the opening one, securing their place in the Grand Finals against Spirit.

Spirit survive a scare from FaZe

Spirit opened on their own pick, Dust2, and never let FaZe into the game. Danil “donk” Kryshkovets set the tone early with a dominant performance as Spirit closed it out 13-6 without much resistance. Despite keeping up, FaZe’s mid rounds suffered, with Spirit keeping control of the game with superior mid rounds

FaZe hit back on Cache, the one map where their lineup has looked untouchable over the past three months, and made it count. Jason “JBOEN” Boe Nielsen led the fightback, and FaZe took the map 13-9 to force a decider despite a poor start. With Cache being a new map, FaZe’s gamble paid off in ways they would have expected, as we saw them take the series to the final map.

Anubis went the distance. Spirit’s structure held up better in the closing rounds, and they closed out the series 13-11 to book their spot in the grand final, their third at this event. While FaZe lost, they managed to give Spirit a tough fight in a match many expected to be a total blowout. FaZe’s new lineup is starting to produce results, and this match is a testament to that.

Astralis and MOUZ close out the bracket

Astralis took the opener on their own pick, Ancient, 13-6, in what can be said as their most dominant performance against MOUZ in a long time. The early lead in the series gave Astralis the comfort zone, but they failed to build on it, leading to two disastrous maps as a consequence.

MOUZ responded with two back-to-back 13-9 wins as Astralis failed to get going, which goes to show how Astralis are just not ready to take on the teams at the highest level of the game. Giving a tough fight in the second map, Astralis were outclassed in the 3rd map as MOUZ’s new lineup has continued in the footsteps of the previous one.

With the Grand Final set, we will see MOUZ take on Spirit, with no clear favorites given that both teams have been showing shaky form. One can argue MOUZ’s recent form gives them the edge, but it is really anybody’s Grand Final to take.

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