As the Lunar New Year is just on the horizon, Riot Games is set to hand out tons of free rewards to the Chinese servers to celebrate the new League of Legends season.
“Dear Summoners, since the launch of the first themed season in 2025, we have seen your enthusiasm for the new season and have received numerous suggestions from you,” an official statement from the LoL China website reads. “The League of Legends team remains committed to focusing on the gaming experience of our summoners, listening attentively, and driving forward subsequent plans.”
Players in the Chinese LoL servers will receive special limited-time rewards each day between January 12 and January 15 by logging into the game client. Throughout the event duration, players will be able to get an additional 1,000 Blue Essence from their daily chests, amounting to a total of 3,000 Blue Essence.
This will be followed by another exciting Lunar New Year event, which is scheduled to kick off on January 16. Details of this upcoming event hasn’t been revealed by the devs at the time of writing.
Be sure to keep an eye on Riot Games’ social media handles for further announcements on the upcoming event.
Among the plethora of content that Valorant Episode 10 has brought with it to the shooter, the newly introduced ‘Flex’ cosmetics have taken the community by storm.
For the uninitiated, Flex is a new cosmetic category in Valorant that players can use in-game to… well, flex. When you’re in a game, you can showcase your Flex items by inspecting them, just like you would with your weapon or melee skins.
In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about how to use Flex in Valorant.
We will not only showcase how you can get Flex in Valorant, but also check out how you can equip and use it when you’re in a match.
How To Get Flex in Valorant
In order to use Flex in Valorant, you’ll first need to know how to get them.
Luckily, there’s not much you need to do to get Flex in Valorant since Riot Games has provided one for free to all players logging into the game after the Episode 10 update.
Once you have your Flex in Valorant, you’ll need to equip it before you can use it in your games.
Here’s how you can equip Flex in Valorant:
Launch Valorant.
Go to the ‘Collections’ tab.
Click on the ‘Expressions’ wheel.
Click on ‘Flex’.
Equip your Flex.
Once done, hop on a game and bring up your spray wheel by tapping the assigned hotkey. From there, you’ll be able to use your Flex gadget and inspect it.
Keep in mind that equipping a Flex gadget will slow you down compared to having your knife out. It’s best to save the flexing for the buy phase or after the round has ended to avoid any mid-match mishaps.
2024 has seen some of the most monumental events in mobile esports history, with games such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Brawl Stars, and PUBG Mobile pioneering the way to new heights of viewership. Among the star-studded lineup, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) carved a unique space with the ranking of 6th at an impressive peak viewership of 493,980 during the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series 2024 (BMPS 2024). This becomes more impressive when you consider that this title has had its fair share of setbacks over the past few years and is region-specific to India.
BGMI Records Over 493k Peak Viewership During BMPS 2024
Despite being an India-exclusive title, BGMI managed to surpass numerous global esports events in viewership. What makes this accomplishment even more significant is the game’s turbulent history. The Indian government suspended BGMI for around 10 months, from July 2022 to May 2023, which created uncertainty about its future.
The revival of BGMI after a suspension proved that there is a huge potential in the Indian gaming community. BMPS 2024 showcased the passion among Indian players, but most importantly, it showed that there has been rising interest in the field of esports. Now, with esports having more and more global attention, the numbers coming with BGMI proved India to be a leading player among countries with immense mobile gaming industries.
India’s Massive Potential in Mobile Esports, Led by BGMI
Compared to Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America, the Indian esports scene is still in its early stages. However, BMPS 2024 was definitely proof that this region is ready for growth. The 493,980 peak viewers stand as evidence of a loyal and enthusiastic audience.
This success, however, brings to light an important message for both brands and game developers: patience is key. While the Indian esports market does hold huge potential, it requires consistent nurturing in the form of infrastructure, tournament organization, and community engagement that should be aligned to build a sustainable ecosystem. The journey of BGMI, from suspension to its return, teaches one lesson—the value of community support.
Top 5 Major Mobile Esports Events of 2024
The 2024 rankings underline the dominance of some of the biggest mobile esports titles globally. Leading this list, the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M6 World Championship put up a whopping 4.1 million in peak viewers, further cementing its place as a fan favorite globally. On the other hand, Brawl Stars attracted more than 1.1 million peak viewers during the World Finals 2024, which was kind of surprising, but the game has seen a massive growth in recent years. PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2024 took third place with a peak viewership of 985,418, continuing to prove that the title shows no signs of fading despite the narrative.
Arena of Valor’s International Championship 2024 secured fourth place with 762,583 viewers, followed by Free Fire World Series Global Finals that achieved a peak viewership of 751,237.
As the esports industry continues to evolve, the role of India in the global gaming landscape is set to expand. BGMI’s performance in 2024 is just the beginning. With increased investment, infrastructure development, and community support, India could soon rival traditional esports powerhouses. Furthermore, with the possible return of Free Fire, which was one of the leading mobile esports titles in the country prior to its ban, the India mobile esports scene is expected to propel even further. All eyes will undoubtedly remain on India as it continues its journey toward establishing itself as a key player in mobile esports.
Stay ahead in the world of esports with the TalkEsport app! Download now to get instant access to the latest news, live points tables, comprehensive esports calendars, and live streams of your favorite tournaments. Don’t miss out—get the app today
Just a few hours after the release of the VCT 2025 team capsules in Valorant, it seems the upcoming melee skin for this season has already been leaked.
Recently, Riot Games announced in a dev update that a new VCT Melee would be coming to Valorant this season. A similar release occurred in 2023 when the devs introduced the VCT LOCK//IN capsule. Priced at 5,440 VP, the LOCK//IN capsule featured an exclusive melee skin available for a limited time.
While Riot Games has yet to shed light on the melee skin for the VCT 2025 season, dataminers have managed to dig up the game files and uncover the first looks at the new knife.
VCT 2025 Melee Skin Will Be a Karambit
As per a leak from prominent Valorant dataminer ‘VALORANTLeaksEN’, the VCT 2025 melee skin will be a Karambit knife.
Players are able to catch a glimpse of the Karambit by checking out the official showcase videos for some of the VCT 2025 team capsules and pausing at the right moment.
VCT 2025 Karambit Release Date
At the time of writing, the release date for the VCT 2025 Karambit remains unclear. Players will need to wait for official confirmation from Riot Games for details regarding its launch.
VCT 2025 Karambit Price
As mentioned earlier, the VCT LOCK//IN bundle, which included a similar limited-time melee weapon, boasted a price tag of 5,440 VP. Fans can likely expect the new Karambit to have a similar price point, if not higher.
Cloud9 having failed to secure success with their Russian core has parted ways with their star rifler in Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov and major winning IGL Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov ahead of the 2025 season.
Suffice it to say that Cloud9 has not been the same for quite a while and different roster variations have not yielded anything promising. Despite the plethora of talent, the roster has failed to click on the big stage which has resulted in C9 turning away from Boombl4 and Ax1le, two players who have not been the same since the launch of CS2.
BetBoom’s Russian core will benefit from the experience of their latest arrivals. The likes of zorte and S1ren are believed to be players with high potential that has not surfaced yet and the new iteration of their roster will look to do just that.
As confirmed by the developers, Mel will be added to the LoL roster alongside the game’s patch 25.S1.2, which is scheduled to hit the live servers on January 23, 2025.
Players can unlock her in the Champion Shop for 975 RP or 7,800 Blue Essence. She will debut with an Arcane Councilor skin, which can be bought for an additional 1,350 RP.
LoL Mel Abilities Explained
Mel’s kit allows her to deal immense damage from a distance through her passive, making her a powerful midlaner and impactful throughout all stages of the game.
Below is a detailed breakdown of Mel’s kit for players to explore:
Passive – Searing Brilliance: Whenever Mel uses an Ability, she gains three bonus projectiles on her next Attack, up to nine maximum.
When Mel deals damage through an Ability or Attack, she applies Overwhelm, which stacks up damage to execute the enemy. If the enemy is hit by Mel with enough Overwhelm damage to kill them, the stacks are consumed executing them.
Q – Radiant Volley: Mel fires a barrage of projectiles that explode around a target location, dealing damage repeatedly to enemies within the area.
W – Rebuttal: Mel gains Move Speed, forms a barrier around herself that reflects enemy projectiles back at the attacker, and prevents taking damage.
E – Solar Snare: Mel fires a radiant orb, Rooting enemies in the center while dealing damage over time and Slowing in an area around it.
R – Golden Eclipse: Mel strikes all enemies marked with Overwhelm regardless of range, dealing additional damage for each stack of Overwhelm.
FaZe Clan has done it once again as they bag another superstar in Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski to round out their roster ahead of the 2025 season to replace Robin ‘ropz‘ Kool.
FaZe Clan has garnered immense success in the past roping in another North American superstar in Twistzz as they look to replicate similar success with EliGE. The 27-year-old is arguably one of the most gifted players to come out on NA who enjoyed a good run with Team Liquid bagging prestigious trophies.
Since parting ways with Liquid, EliGE has not played for any teams who were serious title contenders at any point. While he enjoyed flashes of success with CoL, it is nowhere near the level he belongs to, having failed to win a single trophy with them.
With the major eluding him at his peak, ELiGE’s goal aligns with FaZe’s to win the big prize. While EliGE is not a like for like replacement for ropz, but FaZe’s recent performance show that they need a different tactical approach for all their stars to play well in unison.
FaZe are now:
Håvard “rain” Nygaard
Finn “karrigan” Andersen
Helvijs “broky” Saukants
David “frozen” Čerňanský
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowsk
Filip “NEO” Kubski (coach)
EliGE is similarly experienced to the veterans of FaZe and certainly has what it takes to deliver on the big stage having done it nuemorus times in the past. With karrigan by his side, it is only a matter of time before FaZe get their mojo back with EliGE.
ESL has announced the 24 teams invited for IEM Katowice 2025. While IEM Katowice is not a Major, the crowd, the passion and the pride in winning it make it one of the most prestigious CS2 tournaments.
An unaltered format from previous years, the tournament will be divided into two stages, where the top teams from the Valve ranking will be put directly into Stage 2, while the lower-ranked teams will have to fight it out in Stage 1.
Defending champions Team Spirit will come into the tournament as Major winners while the likes of G2, NAVI, and FaZe will have a shot at dethroning them. While Spirit is in good form, it cannot be easy to maintain the same level coming into the tournament.
Teams
Stage 2
Spirit
G2
Natus Vincere
Vitality
MOUZ
FaZe
The MongolZ
Falcons
Stage 1
Liquid
FURIA
Astralis
MIBR
Eternal Fire
paiN
3DMAX
Complexity
Virtus.pro
GamerLegion
Wildcard
SAW
BIG
FlyQuest
Imperial fe
HEROIC
The recent roster mania has yielded several interesting teams and Katowice set for the middle of the year will bring forward several narratives that fans can look up to. Katowice brings together several teams across the globe and dark horses emerge in every tournament.
Goes without saying that Katowice will be one of the best tournaments of the year that will yeild amazing moments for us to remember and with all the teams involved we can expect another great tournament in 2025.
Sources close to TalkEsport have revealed that Garena will soon be hosting a Free Fire Creator Tournament in India after years of hiatus. However, the tournament is not yet officially announced and remains a mere rumor. According to the sources, it is expected to feature a whopping ₹15,00,000 prize pool and include some of the biggest names in Indian Free Fire content creation. However, it is still unclear whether the tournament will be hosted on Free Fire MAX or serve as a launchpad for the highly anticipated Free Fire India.
Free Fire Creator Tournament Details Leaked So Far
According to the leaked details, the Free Fire Creator Tournament will have the following structure:
Roster Rules: Each team is allowed a maximum of five players, with a minimum of one Garena Partnered Creator. The partnered creator must actively participate in at least 80% of the matches.
Device Restrictions: To maintain fairness, the use of emulators is strictly prohibited. All participants must compete using mobile devices.
Although the final list is subject to change, the rumored line-up includes some of the most prominent Free Fire creators in India:
TSG Legend
Assassin’s Army
Badge 99
Desi Gamers
Gyan Gaming
Pahadi Gamer
TG FozyAjay
VasiyoCRJ7
Jonty Gaming
Nonstop Gaming
PVS Gaming
Boss Army
Desi Chhora_YT
Hello Telegu Gamers, and more.
Free Fire India and Free Fire Esports Scene in India
The Free Fire Creator Tournament has brought a ray of hope for the Free Fire fans. Despite it being over a year since the announcement, Garena has not revealed any concrete information about Free Fire India. This extended wait is no longer building hype, but it is killing it. It is still unclear whether this tournament will be played on Free Fire MAX or will serve as a launch event for Free Fire India. While some are optimistic about Free Fire India’s return, others are still uncertain.
Whatever the scenario is, if the rumors are true, the Free Fire Creator Tournament will surely give a much-needed push to the Free Fire community and keep the lights on for a bit longer.
As for the esports scene, fans have mixed feelings. Although the community is appreciating Garena’s efforts to re-establish its presence in the Indian market, many believe that a proper esports tournament would be a more impactful way to reconnect with the competitive community.
Stay ahead in the world of esports with the TalkEsport app! Download now to get instant access to the latest news, live points tables, comprehensive esports calendars, and live streams of your favorite tournaments. Don’t miss out—get the app today
The highly anticipated Valorant 10.0 patch is finally live, and fans from throughout the world are diving into all the new content that Episode 10 has brought with it to the shooter.
If you haven’t had the chance to check out the Valorant 10.0 update yet, don’t worry—there’s still plenty of time before the next big update hits the live servers.
However, many new players often find themselves confused about how to download the Valorant patch 10.0 update.
If you’re unsure how to update your Valorant to the latest 10.0 version, we have you covered.
How To Download Valorant Patch 10.0: Guide
Downloading the Valorant 10.0 update is extremely easy and takes no more than a few minutes to complete.
If you already have Valorant installed on your PC, all you need to do is launch the game, log in with your username and password, and the client will automatically download the latest version of the Riot Games title.
Wait for the download to finish, and hit ‘Play’ once your game is updated.
If you don’t have Valorant installed on your PC, you’ll need to head to the official Riot Games website and download the game from scratch. Once done, install the game and you’ll be automatically updated to the Valorant 10.0 patch.
That’s everything you need to know about how to download Valorant patch 10.0 on your PC. After logging into the game, be sure to check out the exciting new content that the update has introduced to the game, including the new Agent Tejo, a fresh Battle Pass, and lots more.
