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FURIA 2-0 Aurora: The Most One-Sided Semifinal of the Major

Divyesh Moghe
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FURIA 2-0 Aurora: The Most One-Sided Semifinal of the Major

Aurora had the pick. Aurora had the better Dust2 numbers. Aurora had a Turkish crowd inside LANXESS that had spent the week making the arena sound like a home ground. Ninety minutes later they had four rounds on Nuke and a flight home.

FURIA vs Aurora: Inside the Most One-Sided Semifinal of the IEM Cologne Major 2026

The strangest decision of the day came in the veto. Handed Aurora’s Dust2, FURIA chose to start on T side, a choice that looked indefensible when they went down 0-3 and Brazilian fans began typing. Then Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato bought an AK he had no business winning a round with, won it anyway, and closed the half with an ace. FURIA led 7-5 at the break on the wrong side of the wrong map.

The CT half was less a comeback than a foreclosure. Danil “molodoy” Golubenko posted a 1.49 rating, three multi-kills and 110 ADR while Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo finished the half without a single kill, which tells you something about how little FURIA needed from their captain. Dust2 ended 13-9.

Nuke was where it stopped being a match. Aurora came out of the gate on CT and took an early lead, then won nothing else. Not one round. FURIA took twelve straight, turned an 8-4 T half into a 13-4 close, and Yuri “yuurih” Santos finished the series with a match-high 34 kills at a 1.62 rating.

The scoreline flatters Aurora. They lost to a team that has spent two years being described as talented and undisciplined, and got beaten on composure.

FURIA reach the first Major grand final in the organisation’s history. FalleN, who won here the last time Cologne hosted a Major, gets one more. Aurora fall to eighth in the world rankings. FURIA rise to fifth.

They meet Falcons at LANXESS on June 21, 18:00 EEST, best of five.

More Cologne coverage in our CS2 hub.

Registrations for Esports Nations Cup CS2 Open Qualifiers Go Live

Sonu Banerjee
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Registrations for Esports Nations Cup CS2 Open Qualifiers Go Live

Registrations for the Open Qualifiers for the Esports Nations Cup (ENC) Counter-Strike 2 event are now live, as confirmed by The Esports Foundation (EF) on June 19th.

For the uninitiated, the Esports Nations Cup CS2 event will be held in Riyadh from November 10-15 and will feature a prize pool of $1.32 million USD.

According to EF, the upcoming tournament will see the “largest open qualifier in Counter-Strike history,” with a whopping 96 qualifiers being organized throughout the globe. The winners of these national qualifiers will then advance to regional qualifiers, where 24 teams will earn their spots at the main event in Saudi Arabia.

Esports Nations Cup CS2 Event Qualifier Details

Below, we have included a breakdown of the national qualifiers, regional divisions, and slot distribution:

  • Western Europe (4 ENC Slots): Denmark, France, Sweden, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Finland, Portugal, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Iceland, and Italy
  • Eastern Europe (4 ENC Slots): Ukraine, Israel, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Kosovo, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia
  • North America (3 ENC Slots): United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico
  • South America (3 ENC Slots): Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and Paraguay
  • Middle East & Central Asia (3 ENC Slots): Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Palestine, United Arab Emirates, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Armenia
  • North Africa (1 ENC Slot): Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt
  • Sub-Saharan Africa (1 ENC Slot): South Africa, Mauritius, Senegal, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ghana, and Angola
  • South & East Asia (2 ENC Slots): Mongolia, People’s Republic of China, Pakistan, India, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei, and Japan
  • Southeast Asia (2 ENC Slots): Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Brunei Darussalam
  • Oceania (1 ENC Slot): Australia, New Zealand, Guam, and Fiji

The list was created as per the ENC rankings of the teams, which were based on the June VRS.

The scores of the participating countries were determined by combining the points of the top five highest-ranked players, with no more than three players from the same VRS team contributing to the total.

Countries that didn’t have enough VRS-ranked players were ranked separately based on the combined FACEIT ELO of their top 40 active players during May.

The national qualifiers for the ENC will run from July 6-16, followed by the regional qualifiers from July 17-19.

Teams looking to sign up for the ENC Open Qualifiers can do so by heading over to the official FACEIT page for the event.

Halo: Campaign Evolved on PS5 Will Require an Xbox Gamertag and Microsoft Account

Aritra Patra
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Halo: Campaign Evolved on PS5 Will Require an Xbox Gamertag and Microsoft Account

PlayStation 5 owners who want to play Halo: Campaign Evolved will need more than a PS5 console and a copy of the game. Halo Studios has confirmed that every player, regardless of platform, must link a Microsoft account and Xbox Gamertag before they can start the campaign.

The confirmation came in a June community Q&A posted on the official Halo Waypoint website. It marks the first time the Halo franchise has launched on a Sony console, making the account requirement one of the most talked-about details ahead of the game’s release.

Why You Need an Xbox Account on PS5

Halo Studios says the Microsoft account requirement is not new. It already applies to Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo Infinite. The studio is bringing the same system to Campaign Evolved to support cross-platform play and progression across Xbox, PlayStation 5, and Steam.

In the Q&A, community manager John Junyszek explained that linking a Microsoft account and Xbox Gamertag is required “regardless of the platform(s) you play on.” This means PS5 players cannot skip the step, even if they only plan to play offline or solo.

What PS5, Xbox, and Steam Players Need

The account rules are not identical across platforms. Each version of Halo: Campaign Evolved has its own setup, and PS5 carries the most requirements.

  • PlayStation 5: Anyone playing split-screen on PS5 needs two things for both accounts. Each player must have an active PlayStation Plus subscription, and each PlayStation account must be linked to its own Microsoft account. These same PlayStation Plus subscriptions also cover online co-op.
  • Xbox Series X|S: A second player joining split-screen on Xbox needs a separate Microsoft account. Online co-op requires an active Xbox Game Pass subscription.
  • Steam: PC players on Steam only need to link their game to a Microsoft account. No PlayStation Plus or Game Pass requirement applies here.

Halo Studios has not said which specific Xbox Game Pass tier is needed for online co-op, only that an active subscription is required.

Ubisoft Co-Founder Claude Guillemot Dies in Plane Crash in France

Aritra Patra
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Ubisoft Co-Founder Claude Guillemot Dies in Plane Crash in France

Claude Guillemot, one of the five brothers who founded Ubisoft, has died in a plane crash in western France. He was 69 years old.

The crash took place on Friday, June 19, in La Baule, a town in western France. Guillemot was flying in a Cessna 421, a twin-engine propeller aircraft, when it went down in a field near the La Baule aerodrome.

The plane had taken off from Rennes earlier that day. French news outlet Ouest-France first reported the crash, with the report later confirmed by Le Figaro. A flight instructor was also on board. Both men died.

Local fire services in Loire-Atlantique said the wreckage was on fire when emergency crews arrived at the scene, with flames spreading to nearby vegetation. That delayed formal identification of the victims. Guillemot’s family learned of his death on the evening of June 19, just hours after the crash.

Guillemot owned the aircraft and was a member of the local La Baule flying club. According to French broadcaster France Info, he had planned to attend a weekend gathering of aviation enthusiasts in the area, an event expected to draw more than 100 aircraft. French aviation authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Who Was Claude Guillemot

Claude Guillemot was one of five brothers, alongside Christian, Gérard, Michel, and Yves, who founded Ubisoft in 1986. The Guillemot family had run an agricultural supply business in Brittany before moving into electronics and computer hardware, a venture that eventually led to the creation of Ubisoft.

At the time of his death, Guillemot held a seat on Ubisoft’s board and served as Executive Vice-President in charge of operations. In company materials, Ubisoft credited him with bringing entrepreneurial experience to the board, along with knowledge gained from living in Asia and a deep understanding of gaming hardware across PC, console, and accessory markets.

While his brother Yves became the public face of Ubisoft as its CEO, Claude worked largely behind the scenes on the operational side of the business. The company he helped build went on to publish major franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s.

Spirit Were Unbeaten. Then Falcons Took Dust2 in Overtime

Divyesh Moghe
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Spirit Were Unbeaten. Then Falcons Took Dust2 in Overtime

Falcons had map point on Dust2. A Grand Final was sitting there. They dropped it, and Spirit, who had not lost a series in the entire Major, dragged the decider into overtime the same way they had dragged G2 into four of them a day earlier. Then Falcons won every round that followed.

Falcons Beat Spirit 2-1 at the IEM Cologne Major to Reach Their First Grand Final

The series ran three maps and two overtimes, and Falcons closed both of them without blinking.

It opened on Anubis, Falcons’ pick, and it opened badly for the narrative. Spirit reached map point. Falcons refused to leave, forced overtime, then dropped only two extra rounds on the way to 16-14. Mirage looked like the correction. Falcons started 4-0 on the defense off a hot half from karrigan before Spirit stabilised, took the pistol back, and strung seven straight rounds together to take their pick 13-8.

That left Dust2, a map Spirit are supposed to own. They led 7-5 at the break after finally winning a pistol round. Falcons answered with three in a row and kept answering. The rounds that decided it were the ones Falcons had no business winning: m0NESY and NiKo holding sites that were already lost, TeSeS taking a 2v1, karrigan pushing blind through smoke for a round the spreadsheet had written off. Falcons found map point, fumbled it, and let Spirit force overtime at 12-12.

Then they won four rounds in a row. 16-12. No comeback, no third act.

NiKo finished the series 59-52 with a 1.26 rating, which undersells how much of it he carried. karrigan said afterwards he had called this team special the day he joined.

This is Falcons’ first Major Grand Final in the organisation’s history, and the first for m0NESY and kyousuke. For karrigan it is the sixth. Falcons meet FURIA in the Grand Final, and NiKo gets a third appointment with a trophy that has never had his name on it.

BMPS 2026 Grand Finals Day 2: Match Timings, Points Table, Maps, Streaming, and More

Aditya Parsutkar
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BMPS 2026 Grand Finals Day 2: Match Timings, Points Table, Maps, Streaming, and More

BMPS 2026 Grand Finals Day 2 will be played today, 20 June, at the Jaipur Convention Centre in Jaipur, Rajasthan. After the first six matches, Divine Gaming secured the top spot with 85 points. Nebula Esports is standing in 2nd place with 53 points, followed by Genesis Esports and Reckoning Esports. A total of six matches will be played today across Rondo, Erangel, and Miramar, starting from 3:45 PM IST. Check out the BMPS 2026 Finals Day 2 schedule, teams, map rotation, where to watch, and other details.

BMPS 2026 Grand Finals Day 2: Schedule and Teams

MatchMapTime
Match 7Rondo3:45 PM
Match 8Erangel4:30 PM
Match 9Erangel5:15 PM
Match 10Erangel6:00 PM
Match 11Miramar6:45 PM
Match 12Miramar7:30 PM

BMPS 2026 Grand Finals Points Table

  • Divine Gaming – 85 Points
  • Nebula Esports – 53 Points
  • Genesis Esports – 52 Points
  • iQOO Reckoning Esports – 47 Points
  • iQOO 8Bit – 40 Points
  • iQOO Revenant XSpark – 39 Points
  • Vasista Esports – 38 Points
  • iQOO Team Tamilas – 37 Points
  • 7Gods Esports – 36 Points
  • Gods Reign – 29 Points
  • iQOO Orangutan – 26 Points
  • iQOO SouL – 25 Points
  • Myth Official – 24 Points
  • Team Apex Gaming – 23 Points
  • Victores Sumus – 22 Points
  • GodLike Esports – 21 Points

Prize pool and Esports World Cup 2026 Slot

The headline number is ₹4 crore, doubled from the ₹2 crore KRAFTON announced at launch. The champion takes ₹1 crore. Second place gets ₹60 lakh, with ₹40 lakh for third. All 16 finalists walk away with a share.

The international reward is where things get a little murky. KRAFTON’s BMPS 2026 launch tied the title to an Esports World Cup 2026 berth in Riyadh, with India holding two slots. More recent reports instead point to a PUBG Mobile World Cup (PMWC) 2026 Paris spot for the winner. Either way, a global slot is on the table, so confirm the exact route on the official BMPS 2026 tournament page nearer the final.

Where to watch BMPS 2026 finals?

Fans can enjoy all matches of the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series 2026 Grand Finals on the official YouTube channel of Krafton India Esports in a total of nine languages, including Hindi, English, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi, Mizo, Bengali, and Tamil.

Spirit Survives a Valiant G2 to Reach IEM Cologne Major Semi-Final

Sarjyo Mukherjee
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Spirit Survives a Valiant G2 to Reach IEM Cologne Major Semi-Final

Spirit are through to the semi-finals of the IEM Cologne Major 2026, beating G2 with a 2-1 scoreline. Despite getting washed in the opening map, Spirit managed to outlast a valiant G2 side in a match that could have gone either way easily.

VETO

  • G2 removed Nuke
  • Spirit removed Inferno
  • G2 picked Overpass
  • Spirit picked Dust2
  • Spirit removed Ancient
  • G2 removed Anubis
  • Mirage was left over

Map 1: Overpass; Pick: G2; Winner: G2

Starting their offense by converting a force buy, G2 managed to outlast Spirit in the first half with their typical pick and play. Despite their good start, G2 gave away control of the game to Spirit, leading to the Russian side edging out with a 7-5 scoreline before switching sides. G2’s highlight of the map came in the second half, where their defense spoke to their choice of map, as a dominant defense kept Spirit at bay. Winning a streak of rounds on defense, G2 managed to outlast Spirit to start the series with a stunning performance of a 13-9 scoreline. HeavyGod, with his high impact across both halves of the game, proved instrumental in G2’s success, posting 1.66 IR.

Map 2: Dust2; Pick: Spirit; Winner: Spirit

G2 started in a similar style to open up the map, only for Spirit to build into the series by the end of the first with a level scoreline. Although G2 briefly edged ahead, Spirit hit map point first in the second half before a huNter clutch sent the game to overtime. As both teams remained inseparable during regulation, Spirit managed to pull ahead in OT, with G2 trailing closely in a game that almost seemed headed to a second OT. A classic donk 1v2 pulled the curtains, taking us to the final map of the series.

Map 3: Mirage ; Pick: Decider; Winner: Spirit

A 3-0 start for G2 on the offense gave them the foundation to start their season looking for, and despite Spirit pulling in 4 to level the scoreline, G2 managed to put together another 4 to close the half with an 8-4 lead. A solid first-half performance from G2 failed to translate to the second half, as Spirit levelled the scoreline to take the game to OT. Pushing the game to OT, Spirit kept the upper hand with G2 playing a chase game. It goes without saying that more than a few clutches went in favour of Spirit, especially one with magixx just spraying down 4 players coming in. Following 4 OTs, Spirit managed to push the game over the line, securing a solid win after a prolonged battle.

Goes without saying that this was one of the most heartbreaking losses that we have come to see across the Major, with G2 losing the game from the edge of winning. While no one expected them to put up a performance like this, this will go down as one of the most exciting Major matches that we have come to see, which is only lacking a fairytale ending.

Counter-Strike Turns 27: From Half-Life Mod to Esports Sensation

Aritra Patra
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Counter-Strike Turns 27: From Half-Life Mod to Esports Sensation

Counter-Strike is celebrating its 27th anniversary today. The game that started as a fan-made mod for Half-Life is now one of the longest-running esports titles in gaming history, and it’s still drawing crowds.

It started as a mod, not a launch

The first version of Counter-Strike showed up in 1999. It was a modification for Half-Life, built outside any big studio. Valve released the official, standalone version in November 2000, more than a year later.

So Counter-Strike didn’t launch with a marketing budget behind it. It came from community work first. The official release followed.

Five versions, several generations of players

Counter-Strike has had five official versions since that first release. Each one carries its own slice of the player base.

Some players still talk about the early computer-club era. Others say CS 1.6 was the version that turned Counter-Strike into the main competitive shooter of its time. A different group remembers CS:GO as the peak. Newer fans are building those same memories around CS2 right now.

The core of the game hasn’t moved much across any of this. Two teams, a bomb, rounds, an in-game economy, and gunplay where one mistake ends your round. Valve changed the wrapping five times. The formula underneath stayed put.

Almost 19,000 tournaments, over $251 million in prizes

The esports side of Counter-Strike has grown alongside the game. That’s not just a popular game with a fanbase. It’s a full ecosystem. Tournament organizers, professional clubs, rosters that became legendary, Majors, and a line of competitive generations that never really broke.

Why the game is still around

New shooters have tried to take Counter-Strike’s spot for years. So far, none have. Part of the reason is the balance the game strikes between two things that don’t usually mix well: easy to learn, hard to master.

Anyone can understand the rules in a few minutes. The real skill ceiling only shows up after thousands of hours. That’s why Counter-Strike still works as both a casual pick-up game and one of the toughest disciplines in professional esports.

Still active, not just historic

The most important part of this anniversary isn’t the number 27 itself. It’s that Counter-Strike is marking 27 years as an active game, not a retired one.

Arenas still fill up for it. Majors are still treated as the biggest events on the esports calendar. New storylines and new players keep showing up, 27 years in.

How to Get Free Mister Fantastic Skin in Marvel Rivals

Aritra Patra
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How to Get Free Mister Fantastic Skin in Marvel Rivals

Marvel Rivals has started its Summer Festival for Season 8.5, and one of the highlights is a free swimsuit skin for Mister Fantastic. The skin is called Fantastic Beach Dad, and it comes through a new event called Krakoan Reels.

Unlike past event passes, Krakoan Reels works as a fishing mini-game instead of a simple tier system. Here is exactly what you need to do to unlock the free Mister Fantastic skin in Marvel Rivals.

How to Unlock the Mister Fantastic Beach Dad Skin for Free

The Fantastic Beach Dad skin sits at Level 8 of the Krakoan Reels Exchange Store, which is the final tier. To reach it, you need to catch 21 fish in total through the event’s fishing mini-game.

Once you hit Level 8, you can unlock the skin by spending 18 silver coins in the Exchange Store. Silver coins come from the free track, so you do not need to spend real money to get this skin.

Here is the full process from start to finish:

  • Play matches to earn XP.
  • Convert XP into bait. Every 1,950 XP gives you one bait.
  • Use the bait in the fishing mini-game to catch fish.
  • Catching fish earns silver coins, and the coins unlock levels in the Exchange Store.
  • Reach 21 total fish caught to unlock Level 8.
  • Spend 18 silver coins on the Fantastic Beach Dad costume.

The rarity of each fish you catch decides how many coins you get. Using bait for a fishing attempt also raises your chances of catching a rarer fish, so it helps to keep fishing rather than stopping early.

How the Krakoan Reels Event Pass Works

Krakoan Reels follows the same format as last year’s Jeff’s Break Time event, which gave away the Jeff Business Shark skin through a similar grind. Instead of unlocking tiers just by gaining XP, you now need bait to fish, and the fish you catch determine your coin total.

You can earn bait two ways. The first is playing matches and letting your XP convert automatically, at a rate of 1,950 XP per bait. The second is buying bait directly using Lattice, the game’s premium currency, if you want to skip some of the grind.

Once you have bait, open the event tab and use it in the fishing mini-game. Each fish you reel in adds coins to your total. Silver coins come from the free track, while gold coins come from the premium track. You need 21 fish caught in total to unlock all 8 levels of the Exchange Store, and the Mister Fantastic skin is the headline reward at the top level.

Free Track vs Premium Pass

Krakoan Reels offers 40 cosmetic rewards split between a free track and a premium VIP pass. The premium pass costs 990 Lattice, which is about $9.99, and unlocks the gold coin track.

If you only want the Mister Fantastic skin, you do not need to buy anything. The free track alone gets you the Fantastic Beach Dad costume along with sprays, nameplates, emoji bundles, and Chrono Tokens.

The premium pass is for players who also want the Spider-Man and Cloak and Dagger swimsuit skins, since both are locked behind the gold coin track. The Cloak and Dagger costume, in particular, sits at the same Level 8 as Mister Fantastic but needs 18 gold coins instead of silver coins.

How to Get the Free Groot Ironwood Serpent Skin in Marvel Rivals

PlayStation Reportedly Pulling Back From PC Ports Over Revenue Concerns

Sonu Banerjee
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PlayStation Reportedly Pulling Back From PC Ports Over Revenue Concerns

Sony is reportedly stepping back from bringing its flagship single-player games to PC, with the company pointing to money as the primary reason.

As reported by video game journalist Jason Schreier, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hermen Hulst addressed the decision during an internal company town hall, where he told staff that the recent PC releases had been “inconsistent” and that they should “keep their IP aligned to their own platform.”

Schreier has reportedly confirmed these comments with two sources who had attended the meeting. 

Hulst further added that those releases simply hadn’t generated enough revenue to justify continuing to bring single-player narrative games to PC.

“I guess they’re not going to lay this out publicly, but there’s no ambiguity in their strategy,” the report from Schreier reads. “During a townhall a few weeks ago, Hermen Hulst told staff that their single-player narrative games will be PlayStation only, and he explained that they were inconsistent with their PC releases, they didn’t make enough money, and they want to keep their IP aligned to their own platform.”

SCOOP: PlayStation studio business CEO Hermen Hulst told staff in a town hall Monday morning that the company's narrative single-player games will now be PlayStation exclusive, confirming Bloomberg's reporting from earlier this year.Original story from March: www.bloomberg.com/news/article…

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2026-05-18T18:47:45.020Z

Impact on the Games’ Industry

The change is expected to have a major impact on some of PlayStation’s biggest upcoming releases. Marvel’s Wolverine, along with future single-player titles from Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, and Insomniac Games, is now expected to remain exclusive to the PS5, with no PC versions currently planned.

For PC players, that means getting their hands on these games may require picking up a PlayStation console, as they are unlikely to make the jump to PC anytime in the foreseeable future.

Note that live-service titles won’t be affected by the shift. Games like Helldivers 2 and Marathon will continue launching on PC as before.

Externally developed PlayStation-published games are also expected to stay multi-platform, including the likes of Death Stranding 2 and Kena: Scars of Kosmora.

Sony had spent roughly six years building out its PC porting efforts through studios like Nixxes Software before this reported reversal.

The decision could mark one of the clearest signals yet that PlayStation intends to lean back into console exclusivity for its single-player narrative-driven games.

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