Dplus Kia sweeps Karmine Corp as EWC peaks at 1.45M

Dplus Kia defeated Karmine Corp 3-0 in the League of Legends final at the Esports World Cup in Paris. The match concluded the single-elimination playoffs and coincided with a peak concurrent audience of 1,449,163 viewers, according to organizers.

The LoL bracket followed a GSL-style group stage and featured eight teams: Bilibili Gaming, T1, AG.AL, Dplus Kia, Gen.G, Karmine Corp, Hanwha Life Esports and JD Gaming. Dplus Kia beat Bilibili Gaming 2-1 in the quarterfinals, edged Gen.G 2-1 in the semifinals and won the grand final 3-0. Karmine Corp reached the final after a 2-1 semifinal win over T1. Gen.G defeated T1 in the third-place match. Dplus Kia bot laner Smash was named tournament MVP. The League of Legends competition carried a $2 million prize pool; the champion received $600,000 and the runner-up $340,000.

League of Legends recorded the highest live audience among titles with public viewership figures. The T1 vs Karmine Corp semifinal registered about 1,447,194 peak viewers. The MLBB Women’s Invitational peaked at roughly 565,483 concurrent viewers and Dota 2 at about 324,997; Free Fire peak figures were not disclosed in public materials.

In the MLBB Women’s Invitational, Team Vitality Fem defended its title with a 4-2 win over Natus Vincere PH in the grand final. Natus Vincere PH advanced to the final after a 3-0 semifinal win over Galaxy Phoenix. Vitality reached the final by beating Geltek Cyber Team 3-1; Geltek then beat Galaxy Phoenix 3-0 for third place. Pre-event materials listed the tournament purse at $525,000 while a later schedule page listed $500,000, leaving the final payout distribution unclear.

LYON won the Free Fire competition with 155 points, ahead of AG.AL on 122 and LOUD on 111. The Free Fire event began with 24 teams split into two groups of 12. Group winners and other top finishers advanced directly to the grand final, while mid-table teams competed in a survival stage to fill the remaining final slots. Reported prize money for Free Fire totaled $1,025,000. Confirmed payouts included LOUD at $120,000 for third, Twisted Minds $80,000 for fourth and Fluxo W7M $61,000 for fifth.

Dota 2 remained unresolved at the reporting cutoff. Betboom Team and PARIVISION reached the grand final, while Team Yandex secured third place with a 2-0 win over Vici Gaming. The Dota 2 contest carried a $2 million prize pool, with reports listing a $750,000 winner’s share and Team Yandex receiving $200,000 for third place; Vici Gaming took $120,000 for fourth. An integrity investigation in the Dota 2 bracket led to the suspension of two players from Playtime; the organization later released three players, forfeited a match and was eliminated from the event.

The 2026 Esports World Cup was staged in Paris at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, marking the first edition held outside Saudi Arabia. The event ran across the city from July 6 through August 23, featured more than 2,000 players representing over 200 clubs, covered 24 games in 25 tournaments and offered a combined prize pool that exceeded $75 million.