The Finals Esports 2026 Announced With new Global Points Format

The Finals Esports 2026 is going to be a big one, with Embark Studios looking to build off the success of the 2025 esports schedule and the Grand Major at Dreamhack Stockholm.

We always knew something was coming soon, with a number of big roster moves hinting that something was coming. We’ve seen M80 join The Finals, alongside Pioneers, and ENVY. Now, with the 2026 plans confirmed, let’s take a look at what we can expect.

The Finals Esports 2026

New Global Ranking System

In 2026, a new global ranking system called “The Regional Fame Index” (RFI), will be used to track teams’ competitive achievements. Teams will earn points by:

• Winning and competing at sanctioned tournaments based on placement at the event.
• Points based on performances outside of wins at tournaments
• Points decay over time, encouraging consistency over spiky performances (250 points in March would be worth 188 by August and 125 by December)
• RFI system starts in February and runs through til August
• Leaderboard is locked in by September, with Grand Major placements being given out
• A Last Chance Qualifier will also take place as a final chance to make the Grand Major 2026
• Teams that did well at the Grand Major the previous year will also get a small points boost for finishing in the top eight.

These points will then go towards securing a spot at the 2026 Grand Major. As a result of the Grand Major 2025, a number of points have already been allocated, which are shown below. We assume this will happen each year.

How Teams Will Compete in 2026

To keep things simple, The Finals Esports 2026 schedule will be split into two tiers:

• Tier 1 – Grand Major – The flagship event to end the year will be the pinnacle of The Finals esports with a World Championship on the line
• Tier 2 – Prestige Events – This is all the official, sanctioned and community-run tournaments that will award RFI points. Embark Studios has set a number of rules that must be followed. These include open qualifier paths, so any team can enter. Prestige Events will run across EMEA, the Americas, and APAC

Path to the Grand Major

With the Grand Major the main event of the year, there are a number of paths to get into the event:

1st in your region → Direct invitation to The Grand Major
2nd-5th → Direct invitation to Closed Qualifiers.
6th-9th → Invitation to later stages of Open Qualifiers.
Everyone else → Open Qualifiers – It’s never too late to reach

Note that “In your region” refers to points earned

South America: The top 4 South American teams on the Americas RFI leaderboard will be invited to an exclusive SA qualifier in late Q3 2026, with the winner earning a direct invitation to the AMERICAS Closed Qualifiers.

APAC: Teams across Asia-Pacific, Oceania, and China now have their own regional leaderboard and qualification path to The Grand Major.

EMEA and North America will continue as they have before, with official circuits like APAC.

Community Tournaments

The Finals is putting a focus on grassroots events, and is encouraging community tournament organisers to run events. Organisers who apply and are approved will be given Embark endorsements to then award RFI points in their events.

The Finals Esports 2026 Overview

To summarise, the Finals Esports 2026 will start in February and end in late 2026.

• February → August: Compete, earn points and climb the leaderboard
• September: Leaderboards lock, qualification paths are confirmed
• Late 2026: The Grand Major 2026

For now, we don’t know where the Grand Major will be played, with the 2025 event being hosted at Dreamhack Winter in Stockholm. If it were to be at the same event in 2026, then it would take place between November 27th and 29th, once again in Stockholm.