VALORANT nominees at the Esports Awards 2025

The announcement of the 10th Esports Awards has seen a raft of VALORANT personalities nominated across a variety of areas. NRG’s VALORANT Champions triumph catapulted the organisation in a number of categories.

VALORANT represented in Esports Awards nominations

Unsurprisingly for one of esports’ biggest titles, VALORANT has seen adjacent personalities, and the game itself, nominated across a range of categories at this year’s awards, though there’s stiff competition throughout.

Esports Game of the Year

An award that VALORANT has won the past four years back-to-back, VALORANT is once again nominated for the Game of the Year. The VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) has proven to be one of the best-run circuits in the industry, with its revenue-sharing partnership model — without bulky franchise fees — making it a massive draw for orgs. Developer Riot Games seemingly learnt from the difficulties in its League of Legends circuit to build VALORANT’s pro system from a better starting point.

Esports Content Creator of the Year – TacticalRab, tarik

Known for his daily YouTube videos, Arran “TacticalRab” Francis has become a hugely popular source for VALORANT news, aggregating important developments into bit size, easily digestible recaps.

Meanwhile, former CS pro Tarik “tarik” Celik falls under the same category as one of the game’s biggest co-streamers, broadcasting VCT events to tens of thousands of viewers at a time.

Esports Breakthrough Player of the Year – brawk, kaajak

An extra reward for his Champs MVP-earning performances, Brock “brawk” Somerhalder has become a VALORANT superstar in recent months. His unique use of the Odin has called for ners to the gun, as his proficiency with the weapon forces opponents to change game plans entirely. So grand was his impact in NRG’s Paris run that it’s easy to forget that brawk only began playing in tier one three months ago.

Another rookie this year, Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski had massive shoes to fill as he replaced Derke on Fnatic for 2025. After taking a couple of months to find his feet, kaajak quickly proved himself one of the game’s top duelists and continued that form all the way to the Champs final. Had Fnatic been victorious, kaajak was a shoo-in for the MVP title.

Esports Team of the Year – NRG VALORANT

Little surprise given they won the year’s biggest event, NRG’s VALORANT division has been nominated as a Team of the Year. Their chances of winning seem slim, however, given that their success only came in the final stage of the season, while the likes of Gen.G’s League of Legends roster have dominated their game for the majority of the year.

Esports PC Player of the Year – brawk, f0rsakeN

It’s difficult to undersell brawk’s impact in NRG’s run. The global discussion has focused on his Odin usage, and his impact has seen copycats try to replicate his style, though none have been successful. This has also seen him nominated for overall PC Player of the Year.

He’s joined by Paper Rex IGL Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto. The beloved flex player was voted MVP as his team finally won a global event at Masters Toronto in what was the organisation’s eleventh international appearance.

Esports Coach of the Year – alecks, bonkar

Having led Paper Rex throughout their VALORANT journey, even since they were a Counter-Strike lineup, coach Alexandre “alecks” Sallé, like f0rsaken, has been recognised for his impact on the team’s first global triumph with a Coach of the Year nomination.

NRG coach Malkolm “bonkar” Rench is also up for the award. His 2025 was a year with incredible highs and equally pronounced lows. After an underwhelming Kickoff, bonkar was benched by NRG ahead of Stage 1, with rumours of internal conflict and disagreements on roster moves thought to have led to his removal. But with Stage 1 another failure, bonkar was reappointed, joined by new rookie players. The rest is history.

Esports Play by Play Caster of the Year – Pansy

A veteran of her craft, Lauren “Pansy” Scott has been nominated for Play by Play Caster of the Year. Alongside Michael “hypoc” Robins, Pansy casted the Champs final between NRG and Fnatic and continues to be recognised as a legendary commentator across multiple titles. She’s looking to win the award for the second time, having won in 2022.

Esports Colour Caster of the Year – Sideshow

Another talent with experience covering a number of games, Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson has been nominated for Esports Colour Caster of the Year. Away from official broadcasts, Sideshow is also known for leading the fan favourite Plat Chat podcast.

Esports Analyst of the Year – aEvilcat

Another frequent Plat Chat host, Mimi “aEvilcat” Wermcrantz is another talent up for a repeat win, previously awarded Esports Desk Analyst of the Year in 2023.

10th Esports Awards

The 2025 iteration of the Esports Awards will see the ceremony return to Las Vegas on Wednesday, November 19th. This follows its Decade Awards show held in Riyadh in August. The Esports Awards website currently lists Hitmarker, Oakley, and the Esports World Cup as partners, the latter of which signed on to sponsor the awards for three years in 2024.

This saw criticism levied at the Esports Awards for being complicit in what many see as a sports-washing exercise by the Saudi Arabian government — whose Public Investment Fund bankrolls the Esports World Cup in Riyadh each year — in an attempt to suppress worries around the country’s poor human rights record.