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BGMI Esports Points Table System: What to Expect in 2026

As the calendar turns to January 2026, the competitive scene for Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) is gearing up for another record-breaking year. With major events like the Battlegrounds Mobile India Series (BGIS) and the Pro Series (BMPS) on the horizon, teams and fans alike are analyzing the scoring formats that will define the champions.

Currently, the ecosystem continues to utilize the standardized points structure solidified during the 2025 season. Below, we break down the existing format that Krafton has employed for official tournaments.

Note: This breakdown reflects the 2025 system. We will update this page immediately if Krafton announces any structural changes for the 2026 roadmap.

The Standard 10-Point System

Since 2024, BGMI has aligned closely with the global PUBG Mobile esports standards, moving away from the older 15-point system. This format prioritizes aggression and consistency, significantly reducing the placement points awarded to teams that survive but fail to secure the win.

Here is the current distribution of placement points for a standard 16-team lobby:

  • 1st Place (Winner Winner Chicken Dinner): 10 Points
  • 2nd Place: 6 Points
  • 3rd Place: 5 Points
  • 4th Place: 4 Points
  • 5th Place: 3 Points
  • 6th Place: 2 Points
  • 7th Place: 1 Point
  • 8th Place: 1 Point
  • 9th – 16th Place: 0 Points

Finish Points (Kills)

In addition to placement, aggressive play is heavily rewarded.

  • Per Finish (Kill): 1 Point

This balance ensures that a team cannot win a tournament solely by playing passively (camping). With the gap between 1st place (10 points) and 2nd place (6 points) being relatively small, accumulating high kill counts is often the deciding factor in the leaderboards.

Will the “Smash Rule” Come to BGMI in 2026?

One of the biggest talking points entering the 2026 season is the potential introduction of the Smash Rule.

First introduced in the PUBG Mobile Super League (PMSL) SEA Spring 2025, this rule changes how a tournament winner is crowned. Under the Smash Rule, a team must first reach a certain points threshold and then secure a WWCD (match win) to instantly win the tournament.

While this format adds high-stakes drama to the Grand Finals, Krafton has not yet confirmed if it will be implemented in the Indian circuit for 2026. For now, the standard accumulation format remains the gold standard for tier-one and tier-two tournaments in India.

Optimizing for the Current Meta

For aspiring pros entering the scene in 2026, understanding this table is vital.

  1. Placement Matters Less for Mid-Table: Finishing 9th yields the same placement points (zero) as finishing 16th. This encourages teams to take risks for kills if they know they cannot breach the top 8.
  2. Top 4 Consistency: The drop-off from 4th place (4 points) to 6th place (2 points) is significant over a long league stage. Consistent top-4 finishes are statistically more valuable than occasional wins mixed with early exits.

Stay tuned to this page. As Krafton reveals the official rulebook for BGIS 2026, we will provide the latest updates on any modifications to this scoring system.

Ex-Marathon Director’s $200M Lawsuit Against Bungie and Sony Dismissed

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A high-profile legal battle within the gaming industry has come to an abrupt end. The Los Angeles Superior Court has dismissed a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Christopher Barrett, the former game director of Bungie’s upcoming shooter, Marathon. Barrett had sued both Bungie and its parent company, Sony Interactive Entertainment, seeking damages related to his departure from the studio.

The lawsuit, which was originally filed in October 2025, alleged that Barrett was fired solely to prevent his stock options from vesting. He claimed this was part of a broader cost-cutting strategy following Sony’s acquisition of the studio.

The Court’s Ruling

Judge Curtis A. Kin presided over the case and ultimately ruled in favor of the defendants. According to the court documents, the judge found that Barrett failed to provide sufficient evidence to support his claims of fraud and wrongful termination.

The key points of the dismissal include:

  • Lack of Evidence: The court determined that Barrett’s allegations regarding a conspiracy to deny him stock benefits were speculative and lacked concrete proof.
  • At-Will Employment: The judge reinforced the standard of at-will employment, noting that Bungie was within its rights to terminate Barrett’s employment based on the internal investigation findings.
  • Internal Investigation Validity: The defense successfully argued that Barrett’s termination was the direct result of an internal investigation into misconduct, rather than a financial maneuver.

Background of the Dispute

The conflict began when Barrett was let go from Bungie earlier in 2024. At the time, reports surfaced that he had been terminated following an investigation into inappropriate behavior towards lower-level female employees. Barrett denied these allegations, countering with the lawsuit that accused Bungie and Sony of fabricating the reasons for his firing to save money on stock payouts.

He had sought significant damages, arguing that his unvested shares were worth millions. However, Bungie’s legal team maintained that his termination was strictly a disciplinary action resulting from a violation of company policy.

Impact on Bungie and Marathon

This legal victory allows Bungie to move forward without the cloud of a massive lawsuit hanging over its head. The studio has faced a turbulent year, including layoffs and restructuring, as it focuses on shipping its extraction shooter, Marathon.

With the legal distraction removed, the development team can theoretically refocus entirely on the game’s production. Marathon remains one of Sony’s key live-service bets for the future PlayStation lineup.

Neither Christopher Barrett nor his legal representatives have announced whether they intend to appeal the decision. For now, the case is closed, and the original ruling stands.

Is Tate McRae Coming to Fortnite in 2026? Viral Rumors Explained

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The Fortnite community is kicking off 2026 with a fresh wave of speculation. Social media platforms are currently flooded with images and posts claiming that pop superstar Tate McRae is set to join the Icon Series next month.

Fans of the “greedy” singer have been waiting for this moment for years, but before you start saving your V-Bucks, it is important to separate the hype from the reality. Here is everything we know about the alleged Tate McRae collaboration.

The Viral Rumor: February 2026 Launch?

The speculation began when a Tate McRae fan account on X (formerly Twitter) posted a convincing promotional image. The post claimed that a full collaboration would arrive in February 2026, sending the fanbase into a frenzy. The tweet quickly garnered over 600,000 views, spreading to Instagram and TikTok.

However, despite the high quality of the “leaked” image, all signs point to it being AI-generated.

Fact Check: Is It Real?

As of right now, there is no official confirmation from Epic Games regarding a Tate McRae skin.

Reliable community insiders and data miners, such as HYPEX and ShiinaBR, have not corroborated these claims. Typically, when a collaboration of this magnitude is in the works, files or code strings appear in the game updates weeks in advance. No such data has been found for Tate McRae in the recent patches.

The viral image appears to be a fan-made concept using generative AI tools. While it looks plausible, it is not an official asset from Epic Games.

Tate McRae’s History with Fortnite

While the current skin rumors are likely false, the idea of a collaboration is not far-fetched. Tate McRae already has a significant presence in the game through her music.

Epic Games has previously released two emotes featuring her tracks:

  • “Independence” Emote: Released in August 2024, set to her hit song exes.
  • “It’s ok I’m ok” Emote: Released in August 2025, featuring her song of the same name.

This pattern is often a precursor to a full Icon Series induction. Artists like Doja Cat, The Weeknd, and Sabrina Carpenter all had emotes or radio tracks in the game before eventually receiving their own cosmetic bundles.

The Verdict

For now, the Tate McRae Fortnite skin remains a rumor.

The viral February 2026 release date appears to be unfounded. However, given her rising popularity and existing relationship with Epic Games, a future collaboration is “undoubtedly on the table.” Fans should keep an eye on official channels for any real announcements later in the year.

How Does Aggression Based Matchmaking Work in Arc Raiders

The extraction shooter genre feeds on unpredictability, but Arc Raiders brings in something far more sinister than that – a matchmaking system that tracks your behavior and penalizes the co-op. In December 2025, Embark Studios art director Robert Sammelin confirmed what many in the community had suspected for weeks – that the game tracks player behavior and matches based on that.

This system is known by gamers as “aggression-based matchmaking” and has but one simple tenet. Shoot anything that moves, and you will be put into games with fellow trigger-happy raiders. Drop your aggression, and you will have relaxed lobby partners with whom you can have proximity conversations, share items, and face Arc machines together.

This is now confirmed by the developers in a recent interview. Content creators playing two separate games, one for PvE and the other for the aggressive playstyle, have observed completely different environments in the parties after only a few games. The PvE party had players talking about the objective through proximity chat and reviving each other if a teammate had been knocked down, whereas the aggressive playstyle party received opening fire moments after a raid had initiated. A player had to play about 15 friendly games to overturn the negative match classification following a single kill.

The problem with all of this is the one-way trail. It only takes a casual player three to five highly competitive matches to end up in lobbies with a heavy focus on PvP, but to get out of the categorization of the gameplay system will take a whole lot more friendly matches.

From the point of view of game designing, it seems like Embark has made an engagement optimizer rather than an actual skill-based matchmaker. Now, the solo gamer without PvP skills to begin with has been sorted on the basis of playing style rather than actual ability. This transforms the formula for an extraction shooter, for which all playstyles coexist in theory.

BC.Game Acquires SAW’s CS2 Roster

The Portuguese esports organization SAW has formally announced that its entire roster for Counter-Strike 2 has been sold, bringing an end to an era for the organization, which has spent most of 2025 competing in the tier 2 league circuit. This sale has come despite the organization ranking 22nd in the world rankings for Counter-Strike 2, which is enough for qualification to major events.

A competitive shuffle is happening because of the dissolution of the roster, with the main players within the organization spreading their wings within various top organizations. The biggest move that happened is the joining of Christopher “MUTiRiS” Fernandes, Adones “krazy” Nobre, and António “aragornN” Barbosa to BC.Game Esports, where they get to play alongside the famous veterans Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Denis “electroNic” Sharipov. This move is very important to BC.Game Esports since the Portuguese roster provides tremendous VRS ranking points that give the organization an invite to various tournaments such as BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 and IEM Kraków 2026.

The rest of the SAW team members were absorbed into other teams. Joao “story” Vieira agreed on a verbal contract with FlyQuest, while 100 Thieves is pursuing the rifler André “Ag1l” Gil. The sixth man for SAW, Tiago “mowzassa” Rodrigues, was the team coach during his entire tenure.

Although they have received respect for some excellent showings, such as taking 3rd place at the PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, SAW has struggled to maintain tia er-1 placement. It comes as no surprise that they have chosen to capitalize on their roster based on the economics that govern esports, allowing little leeway for poor performance.

BC.Game has a solidified line-up that now has the chance to move ahead with a serious effort into a tier-1 competition, and s1mple has finally welcomed his new players. The new line-up has its first serious challenge at the upcoming IEM Kraków 2026.

BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 2 to Take Place in Hong Kong

BLAST has confirmed that the second Rivals event of the year will take place in Hong Kong, China, further adding to the region’s growing role on the global Counter-Strike calendar.

Running from November 8-15, the BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 2 marks the event’s return to China following the remarkable success of BLAST Rivals Fall 2025, which also took place there in November. The event concluded in Team Falcons taking on FURIA in the grand final, with the latter ultimately coming out on top.

The BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 2 Counter-Strike 2 tournament will see eight of the finest CS2 teams from throughout the globe battling it out for a $1 million USD prize pool, with the final three days of competition being played in front of a live audience at the AsiaWorld-Expo, culminating in a best-of-five grand final.

Prior to that, CS2 fans will be able to enjoy the BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 1 from April 29th to May 2nd, which will take place at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Fans looking to catch the upcoming BLAST CS2 events online can tune into the official livestreams on Twitch or YouTube on the aforementioned dates.

How to Get the Free Kitsune Sidekick in Fortnite

Epic Games is giving away the Kitsune Sidekick for free to Fortnite players, but not everyone is eligible to get it.

Despite being a relatively recent addition to Fortnite, Sidekicks have quickly become a fan-favorite cosmetic in the battle royale. For the uninitiated, Sidekicks in Fortnite are customizable, non-combat companion cosmetics equipped with unique emotes that follow you when you’re traversing the map.

Previously, we’ve seen iconic characters like SpongeBob and Groot being added to Fortnite as Sidekicks. This time, players have the exciting opportunity to grab the Kitsune Sidekick for free, provided they meet certain conditions.

Ready to find out if you’re eligible to get the free Kitsune Sidekick in Fortnite? Look no further.

How to Get Kitsune in Fortnite for Free

If you want to get the Kitsune Sidekick in Fortnite, you’ll have to own the original Kitsune back bling.

This Kitsune back bling was released as part of the Chapter 1 Season X Battle Pass, with players being able to redeem it once they hit Tier 28.

If you have a Fortnite account that owns the Kitsune back bling, all you have to do is log into the game after the Item Shop reset on January 3, 2026, and grab your free Sidekick. The Kitsune Sidekick should be automatically added to your Fortnite inventory upon logging in to the game.

After obtaining the Kitsune Sidekick, be sure to equip and customize it before queuing for your next game, and you’ll be able to find your new companion following you as you fight your way through your next Victory Royale.

When Is GTA VI Finally Coming Out?

After an endless series of delays, leaks, and hurdles, Rockstar has confirmed that the highly anticipated GTA VI is coming out on 19th November 2026. Given that Rockstar has confirmed multiple release dates in the past, fans remain sceptical despite Rockstar’s assertion that there will be no further delay in its release.

Initially planned to be released in the fall of 2025, fans were disappointed when it was postponed to May 2026, only to be delayed further to November 2026. According to Rockstar, the year-long delay was unavoidable, as they want to uphold the studio’s high standards of polish and quality. Not only did this delay cause fans to wonder what was going on with the game, but it also translated to heavy development costs for the studio.

Extreme disappointment with the delay was readily apparent among the fans, given that GTA VI is the most anticipated game of the decade, but Rockstar remains confident that the last release date confirmed by them will not be changed in the coming days.

From a broader perspective on the game development industry, GTA VI massively impacted the development schedule for other games, given that no studio would like to have its games clash with Rockstar’s biggest ever project. This uncertain timeline for development also prompted other developers to either delay or advance the release of their projects, as revealed by several competitors of Rockstar.

To put it together, GTA VI was officially announced with a timeline that the developers were unable to keep up with, and understandably tested the patience of gamers with multiple pushbacks of the release date. With the November release almost confirmed, we are 11 months away from experiencing a gaming cultural phenomenon, and only time will tell if Rockstar will be able to develop a game that lives up to the hype.

How to Fix Valorant VAN 84 Error?

The “Valorant VAN 84 error” is a connection problem that exists between your client and the Riot servers. Most likely, it happens due to Vanguard or network issues. Players are left abruptly disconnected with a consequence of being marked AFK.

VAN 84 error occurs from three primary sources. The failure of the Riot Vanguard service function, congestion on the servers during peak times, or poor network connection integrity. Code 84 differs from most other VAN errors in that it indicates that your program cannot establish a secure connection via the authentication system used by Vanguard.

How to Fix VAN 84 Error?

Valorant Van 84

Start with these essential troubleshooting steps before attempting advanced solutions:

  • Restart your PC and network equipment – Power cycle your router and modem for 30 seconds, then reboot your computer. This resolves temporary network glitches and clears the Vanguard cache.
  • Check server status – Verify Valorant’s official status page and DownDetector before attempting technical fixes. Server maintenance or outages cause widespread VAN 84 reports.
  • Reset your IP address – Open Command Prompt as administrator and execute these commands sequentially:
    • ipconfig /release
    • ipconfig /renew
    • ipconfig /flushdns

Advanced Network Configuration

If basic fixes fail, adjust your network settings:

  • Disable IPv6: Navigate to Network Adapter Settings and uncheck IPv6 (TCP/IPv6) in adapter properties
  • Change DNS servers: Switch to Google DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) through Network Settings
  • Update network drivers: Check Device Manager for outdated network adapter drivers

Firewall and Security Exceptions

Overly restrictive firewall settings block Vanguard communication. Add Valorant.exe and Vanguard to your firewall’s whitelist, enabling both Private and Public profiles. If using third-party antivirus software, temporarily disable network filtering to test connectivity.

Clean Reinstall

When all methods fail, uninstall both Valorant and Riot Vanguard completely, restart your PC, then reinstall from the official website. This eliminates corrupted installation files blocking authentication.

If VAN 84 persists after these solutions, contact Riot Support directly. Document your troubleshooting steps, include screenshots, and reference your region for faster resolution.

Sony Reportedly Has Not Delayed PS6 Yet Despite RAM Shortage Rumors

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The gaming world has been buzzing with anxiety over the potential delay of the PlayStation 6. Recent reports suggested that a global shortage of RAM, driven by the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence, could push the next generation of consoles well beyond their expected arrival. However, new information indicates that Sony has not pulled the brakes just yet.

According to trusted industry insider Moore’s Law Is Dead, Sony has not made any final decision to delay the PS6. Despite the volatile market for memory components, the company appears to be holding firm on its internal schedules for now.

https://twitter.com/xMBGx/status/2007273903857483948?s=20

The RAM Crisis Explained

The root of these rumors lies in a very real supply chain issue. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an insatiable demand for high-performance memory, specifically GDDR7-class RAM. Tech giants are buying up massive quantities of these components to power AI models, causing prices to skyrocket and availability for consumer electronics to plummet.

This “memory crisis” led many analysts to believe that console manufacturers like Sony and Microsoft would be forced to delay their next-gen systems to avoid exorbitant manufacturing costs. A delay would theoretically allow time for RAM manufacturers to build more infrastructure and stabilize prices.

Sony’s Current Stance

Contrary to the doom and gloom, sources suggest that Sony is still targeting its original manufacturing window.

  • APU Manufacturing: Reports indicate that Sony has already secured contracts with TSMC to begin manufacturing the PlayStation 6’s APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) around mid-2027.
  • Memory Configuration: While the release window seems steady, the final memory specifications remain undecided. Sony is reportedly waiting to see how the market fluctuates before locking in the exact amount and type of RAM for the console.

This hesitation is a strategic move. By waiting until the last possible moment to finalize the memory configuration, Sony can adapt to price changes without necessarily altering the launch date.

What This Means for Gamers

If these reports hold true, the widely speculated 2027 or 2028 release window for the PlayStation 6 remains on the table.

Interestingly, the prospect of a delay was not entirely unwelcome by the community. Many PlayStation fans expressed relief at the idea of a longer life cycle for the PS5, feeling that the current generation still has plenty of untapped potential. However, for those eager to see what comes next, this update offers a glimmer of hope that the PS6 remains on track, regardless of the AI industry’s hunger for hardware.

As we move closer to 2027, all eyes will be on how Sony navigates this component bottleneck. For now, the next generation is still proceeding as planned.