Riot Games is igniting the stage on fire for Stage 2 of the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific by releasing a brand-new anthem, “Shinpai Muyou” (“No Need to Worry”), alongside renowned Japanese musician Yuki Chiba. The song is scheduled for release on all major streaming platforms and will be supported by a music video dropping on the VCT Pacific YouTube channel on July 11.
Born April 22, 1990, in the Oji district of Tokyo, Yuki Chiba, formerly KOHH, has been a vocal force within Japanese hip-hop since he began his career in 2008. His early output was a testament to a rough-around-the-edges childhood defined by loss within his family and the city’s bleak struggle, which he poured into unflinching, honest lyrics that resonated strongly within Japan’s underground culture.
Chiba became a household name via high-profile features, such as Keith Ape’s chart-topper “It G Ma” and a guest verse on Frank Ocean’s “Nikes.” In 2024, he charted worldwide with “Mamushi” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, reaching the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 68.
“Shinpai Muyou” is Chiba’s entrance into the gaming and esports music scene, marking Riot’s aspiration to bring music scenes together from different parts of the world. The energetic drums and catchy bassline are reminiscent of his trademark combination of trap and hip-hop, and the song’s positive theme echoes the forthcoming VCT Pacific grand final roadshow, which would for the first time be taking place in Japan in late August.
Chiba shared his personal connection to the song: “‘Shinpai Muyou’ is a reminder to myself and my fans not to worry and always believe in yourself. There’s no need to stress when you can just vibe.”
Competitive fireworks will erupt on July 15 at Seoul’s Sangam Colosseum, with an impressive lineup consisting of defending Masters champions Paper Rex, who defeated Fnatic during VCT Masters Toronto. The team’s steady, high-level play makes it one of the top contenders.
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) June 22, 2025
With this victory, PRX secure their first international trophy in Valorant. Despite consistently being one of the top teams in the SEA region, they had struggled to leave a mark on the global stage up until now.
PRX Take Down Fnatic in Masters Toronto 2025 Grand Finals
The grand final showdown between PRX and Fnatic at Valorant Masters Toronto was an absolute nail-biter from start to finish.
After narrowly edging out past their opponents on Sunset with a 13-11 finish, PRX fell short on Lotus, which went to four overtimes before ending 17-15 in Fnatic’s favor.
They managed to bounce back on Pearl with a 13-10 score before closing out the series with an overtime victory on Lotus.
With two back-to-back map wins, PRX emerged victorious in the Masters Toronto grand final, securing a 3-1 series win.
The first Major of 2025 was a smashing success, with Austin boasting one of the liveliest crowds ever seen in the game. Although expected, Vitality lifted the trophy after a breathtaking Grand Finals match against MongolZ.
In all its glory, Majors are the biggest events in Counter-Strike esports, and with people doubting the game’s relevance as the Valorant scene continues to grow, BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 became the most-watched Counter-Strike tournament of all time, breaking records in what people consider a dying scene.
Image via ESPORTS Charts
BLAST Austin Major racked up a whopping 76 million hours watched, taking over PGL Major Stockholm in 2021. Stockholm gave us one of the most memorable Major Grand Finals of all time with s1mple and NiKo both fighting for their first Major. Two apex predators of the game at the peak of their powers, which goes to show that Austin Major managed to generate reach that surpasses even the likes of Stockholm Major.
While most of the names on the list are those of Major Tournaments, each one holding its own significance, to sit on top of that list is something else. BLAST gave a Major that will be hard to top by the organizers that come after this.
With only a couple of days remaining till the launch of the highly anticipated Valorant Season 25 Act 4 update, we now have our first look at what the upcoming patch has in store for the tactical shooter.
Valorant patch 11.00 is set to be a major update that will bring a plethora of new changes to the Riot Games title. Players can look forward to a brand-new map, a fresh competitive rotation, the ‘Phaseguard’ skin bundle, and a range of balance adjustments for several Agents.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the early patch notes for the Valorant S25 Act 4 update.
Valorant Season 25 Act 4 Patch Notes
While Riot Games has yet to officially reveal the full patch notes for the Valorant 11.00 update, prominent leakers have already shared early details of the update online.
Without further ado, let’s check out everything we know so far about the Valorant Season 25 Act 4 update:
New Map: Corrode
Will be a part of the competitive map pool from day one.
Loss RR penalty will be reduced by 50% for the first 2 weeks, while gains from winning remain unaffected.
A Corrode-only Swiftplay queue will be available for 5 days.
New Competitive Map Rotation
Bind returns to the competitive map pool alongside Corrode. Split and Pearl are rotated out.
As we stand only a few days away from the release of the heavily anticipated Valorant Season 25 Act 4 update, the community is eager to welcome Corrode to the ever-expanding map pool of the competitive shooter.
For the uninitiated, Corrode is set to be the next map to join the Valorant map pool. Contrary to other map additions we’ve seen in the past, Corrode will be added to the Competitive pool from day one. Riot is also providing additional incentives for players to avoid dodging the new map, which we’ll get to later.
Ready to find out everything you need to know about the new Valorant map Corrode? We’ve got you covered.
Valorant Corrode Release Date
Corrode is set to be added to Valorant with the game’s Season 25 Act 4 update, which is scheduled to hit the live servers on June 25, 2025.
Players will be able to try out the new map in a Corrode-only Swiftplayqueue, which will remain available for five days after the map’s release.
As mentioned earlier, Corrode will also be added to the Competitive rotation of Valorant from day one of its release. To discourage players from dodging the map, Riot has confirmed that Ranked Rating (RR) losses on this new map will be reduced by 50% for two weeks following its launch, while RR gains will remain unaffected.
Valorant Corrode Map Layout
Corrode will be a traditional two-site map in Valorant, featuring both A and B bombsites along with a long, narrow middle area. The bombsites are quite enclosed, encouraging Attackers to play post-plant from within the site. Meanwhile, Defenders can enjoy a variety of holding angles and fallback options, allowing for more flexible retake options.
While Corrode doesn’t feature any gimmicks like Bind’s teleporters, Lotus’ rotating doors, or Ascent’s breakable doors, the map makes up for it with its interesting layout and overall map design.
“With Corrode we wanted to solidify everything we’ve learned so far while also taking on new challenges that our players are facing – like overwhelming Agent utility,” Joey Simas, Lead Map Designer on VALORANT, said in a statement. “This focus gives Defenders more opportunities to play on-site and weather the barrage of utility attackers throw their way, while also limiting post-plant play from off-site.”
Mid-control on Corrode is heavily encouraged regardless of which side you’re on, as it offers crucial access points to both bombsites and opportunities to catch enemies off-guard. Expect to see a lot of long-range duels and utility dumps in this area.
Valorant Corrode Map Callouts
Below, we have included the detailed layout of Corrode in Valorant. You can study the callouts from the map itself:
That’s everything you need to know about Corrode in Valorant. Be sure to check out the official map reveal trailer for Corrode below:
Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen has formally retired from professional Counter‑Strike, ending a legendary chapter in the history of esports. In announcing his retirement, Rasmussen leaves behind an unparalleled record: 32 tournament wins, including a record-breaking five Majors, a first for Counter‑Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
Rasmussen was born on March 26, 1993, in Allerød, Denmark. He started his career in 2012 with 3DMAX’s Danish team, later joining Copenhagen Wolves, where he created the legendary trio with Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth. This core lasted for more than seven years, going through teams such as über G33KZ, Team Dignitas, TSM, and their defining period with Astralis.
Early on, Dupreeh was an individual standout. He featured three years consecutively (2013–2015) in HLTV’s Top 20 players, reaching his highest ranking of #16 in 2014. Major victories took a while to come; quarter-final and semi-final losses marked the time between 2013 and 2016. A notable loss occurred at ESL One Cologne 2016 when Rasmussen was forced to withdraw due to an appendix infection.
The fortune of the team changed when Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye and Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander came on board, reorganizing Astralis’s roster. This new setup peaked in victory at the ELEAGUE Atlanta Major in January 2017—Rasmussen’s first Major title.
The run went on beyond Atlanta. Astralis won three Majors in a row—London 2018, Katowice 2019, and Berlin 2019 and solidified their legacy, with Dupreeh solidly at the center of each win. A fifth Major victory with Team Vitality at BLAST Paris 2023 made him the only player to ever win five Major titles and to have competed in every Major edition—19 total.
Admitting a likely transition from playing to commentary, Rasmussen has recently held an analyst role in BLAST events such as Bounty Spring, Rivals Spring, and Blast Austin Major 2025.
While rumors of future endeavors surround him, his legacy in the scene is indelible. His retirement is not an end; it’s a threshold that generations to come will vie to surpass.
There is a brand-new trailer for Esports World Cup: Level Up, the Emmy Award-winning five-part documentary series from R.J. Cutler. With the series reaching its midpoint, anticipation builds with three already available to stream on Prime Video. Episode 4 is due out on June 27, with the season finale, Episode 5, landing on July 4.
Level Up presents an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the first-ever Esports World Cup in 2024, a history-making event that saw 1,500 of the world’s best players and 200 Clubs from more than 100 countries converge on one location. Through 22 hotly contested competitions, players competed for a mind-boggling total prize pool of $60 million, a record-breaking milestone in esports history.
Made by This Machine, an extension of Sony Pictures Television, the documentary combines a verité filmmaking approach with close-up views of players’ home lives and on-site, intense coverage from Riyadh. What follows is a compelling presentation of the pressure, passion, and sacrifices that fuel the esports elite at the top level.
The trailer promises everything from on-screen rivalries to game-altering moments, set to driving cinematic music and underlined by a gripping voiceover that captures the essence of esports as a rapidly emerging global force.
“The world’s greatest players, the greatest teams — fighting across 22 championships, all after the same trophy,” the announcer declares. “For players, this is the Super Bowl, the World Cup, and the Olympics rolled into one — for the first time. But this wasn’t merely about determining who’s best. It was about who needed to win, who was willing to do whatever it takes to be remembered.”
Episode 101
The Esports World Cup begins in Riyadh, with Team Falcons’ latest Call of Duty: Warzone roster seeking to dominate. Soka, a talented and tough player from San Mateo’s rough streets, California, leads the roster against former teammates and opponents from Fnatic. The battle for the first EWC championship with a million-dollar prize on the line is intense and unforgettable.
Episode 102
Team Liquid comes with a rich heritage but soon finds itself lagging behind the hometown heroes, Team Falcons. Their League of Legends squad has to face their arch-nemesis — the legendary Faker. The focus turns to 17-year-old Sanford, a Mobile Legends: Bang Bang sensation battling not only to win, but for his family’s survival.
Episode 103
NAVI and Vitality both face breakthrough moments as they pursue Club Championship dominance. For NAVI, Counter-Strike 2 is a national pride mission as they face G2 and former prodigy M0nesy in an intense finale. As Vitality’s CS2 team falters, their Mobile Legends: Bang Bang women’s team thrives, with sisters Cinny and Chel overcoming loss and constant stress to make an empowering declaration on behalf of women in esports.
Episode 104 (June 27)
With competition reaching its pivotal points, FaZe and OpTic Gaming rekindle their legendary feud in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. At the helm of FaZe is Drazah, a young sensation from Alaska. In EA FC, Team Liquid chases Team Falcons’ top spot while a dark horse from a far-off island bursts onto the scene in a jaw-dropping debut that disrupts the quest for the top.
Episode 105 (July 4)
The climax features 22 games coming together in a $7 million final. Vitality and Team Liquid clash in R1 Sim Racing and StarCraft II. Vitality’s dominance in R1 is challenged by Max Verstappen’s Team Redline, and Liquid’s upstart Clem squares off with Vitality’s veteran Maru in StarCraft II. Second place is worth $4 million, so time is of the essence in this milestone finale.
In the years to come, the Esports World Cup 2025 will again head back to Riyadh from July 7 to August 24, welcoming the world’s best esports players and Clubs in an epic cross-game setup. With a wide variety of genres and platforms, the tournament will offer life-altering prize pools and will further bring together the global gaming community in the biggest celebration of competitive gaming the world has ever experienced.
Vitality is the winner of BLAST.tv Austin Major following an impressive comeback against MongolZ, having lost the opening map. Vitality showed why they were the clear favourites coming into the tournament, a total domination from them in the final two maps saw the organisation lift the second Major in their history.
Vitality’s 3-0 start to Mirage quickly met a feisty MongolZ side that took back control of the game from the first gun round, leading to them edging out the first half with a 7-5 lead. Switching over to defence MongolZ led a perfect defence as Vitality failed to pick up a single round. Winning the map 13-5, MongolZ took a surprising early lead in the Grand Finals of the Major. Senzu and 901 showed up with 20 kills each to put Vitality behind before heading to Dust 2.
Map 2: Dust 2; Pick: Vitality; Winner: Vitality
Having cruised past Vitality on Mirage, the MongolZ train was stopped in its tracks with a stunning Vitality performance. Coming off a demoralising defeat, Vitality managed to post a 9-3 half, leaving MongolZ speechless. While MongolZ did manage to win a round, Vitality closed the map without letting it get out of hand. Recovering from a bad Map 1, mezii put up a masterclass with a 1.91 rating and 20 kills.
Map 3: Inferno; Pick: Decider; Winner: Vitality
Failing to retaliate, MongolZ could not stop Vitality from continuing their domination of Dust 2. While the Asian side did manage to win rounds, they were few and far between, leading to Vitality taking over the first half with a dominant 9-3 scoreline. Losing the pistol round, MongolZ lost all hope for a comeback as Vitality marched onto victory. Dropping a few rounds on the way, Vitality sealed the deal with a B-side execute. mezii and flameZ, with 21 kills each, took it upon themselves to seal the second Major for Vitality.
What many expected to happen was that MongolZ failed to pull off a Cloud 9 despite their stunning performance throughout the event. However, credit where due, coming from a region that has little representation on the CS scene, speaks to the bright future for the players and the organisation. As they bid farewell to the USA with their heads held high, Team Vitality’s euphoria continues, having officially cemented their era in the history of esports.
The stage is all set for the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series 2025 (BMPS 2025) Grand Finals, as the top 16 teams have finally secured their spots following two intense weeks of Semi Finals action. The Grand Finals are scheduled to take place from 4th to 6th July, 2025, in New Delhi.
Qualified Teams for BMPS 2025 Grand Finals
After intense matches in a round-robin and double round-robin format over Semi Finals Week 1 and Week 2, eight teams from each stage have advanced to the ultimate showdown. Here’s a look at the final list of qualified teams:
From Semi Finals Week 1:
NONX
AKTMG
GENESIS
LHS
EGX
TF
TWOB
K9
From Semi Finals Week 2:
GODx
IQOO 8BIT
ONEPLUSGOD
INSANE ESP
iREX
4TRX
4M
2OP
These 16 teams will now compete over three matchdays for the prestigious BMPS 2025 championship title, a lion’s share of the prize pool, and ultimate bragging rights.
Fans can look forward to intense rivalries, strategies, and top-tier gameplay as India’s best teams lock horns in the capital. The Grand Finals will feature a total of 18 matches across the three days (6/day), with consistent performances being key to claiming the top spot.
Stay tuned to the TalkEsport app for detailed gaming and esports coverage, latest news, and much more!
The curtain has fallen on Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series 2025 (BMPS 2025) Semi Finals Week 2, marking the end of the action-packed week that determined the final eight teams advancing to the Grand Finals. With 24 of India’s top BGMI squads battling across Erangel, Miramar, and Sanhok, only the most consistent and clutch performers have secured their shot at the coveted championship and a share of the massive ₹3 crore prize pool.
BMPS 2025 Semi Finals Week 2 Overall Standings
Following is the overall standings of BMPS 2025 Semi Finals Week 2:
Week 2 saw Gods Omen emerge as the table toppers with a commanding 140 points, closely followed by OnePlus GodsReign at 138 points and 8Bit at 138 points.
Finally, the top eight teams will now face off against the top eight from Week 1 in the Grand Finals, set to take place in New Delhi.
Fan Favorites Fall Short
In a surprising turn, several fan-favorite teams failed to make the cut. GodLike Esports, despite their storied legacy and recent BGIS 2025 runner-up finish, could not find their footing this week and will miss the LAN Finals. Similarly, Team Soul and Orangutan, both crowd favorites, were unable to secure enough points to advance.
With the Semi Finals concluded, the stage is all set for the ultimate Grand Finals showdown. The 16 qualified teams, eight each from Week 1 and Week 2, will battle for ultimate glory and a life-changing prize pool. All eyes now turn to New Delhi as India’s best BGMI squads prepare for their final test.
Stay tuned to the TalkEsport app for detailed gaming and esports coverage, latest news, and much more!
