Source: The Esports Foundation

The Esports Foundation (EF) announced that Virtus.pro (Virtus.Pro) has won the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS) event at the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC 2026). Virtus.pro secured the championship by maintaining consistent performance throughout the three-day Grand Finals, earning $650k in prize money and 1k Club Championship points.

Virtus.pro advanced to the Grand Finals after finishing 6th in the Group Stage. On the first day of the finals, they surged to an early lead by securing two 'chickens' (wins) and two 2nd-place finishes, totaling 91 points. On the second day, they added another win and maintained high placements, reaching a cumulative 126 points and pushing their match point threshold to 136. Although they surpassed the match point requirement in the first game of the final day, they were denied a win in the 15th match by Team Liquid. However, as no other team reached the match point threshold, Virtus.pro finished at the top with 159 points, 33 points ahead of the runner-up, The Vicious.

Immediately after the win, Nino 'NIXZYEE' Mikec said, "It's hard to put into words how I feel right now. I'm just so happy to have achieved this with this team, and I'm incredibly proud of my teammates." He added, "From the moment we arrived, we knew this was our stage. It felt great, but the process was very nerve-wracking."

Regarding why he engraved the symbols of Twisted Minds, Team Falcons, and Natus Vincere (NAVI) on the championship trophy, he explained, "Those were the three strongest teams we competed against at this EWC. I respect them, and I wanted to leave their marks to commemorate this victory." For his outstanding performance throughout the tournament, he recorded 33 kills, 32 knockdowns, and an average survival time of 21 minutes and 21 seconds, earning him the Sony MVP Award. Upon receiving the additional $25k prize, he remarked, "Hard work eventually pays off."

In the final 18th match, The Vicious secured a win, significantly boosting their standing. Having consistently placed in the top three across several matches, The Vicious added 11 kills and 10 placement points in the final game to jump from 6th to 2nd place overall. This allowed them to surpass Natus Vincere, Team Falcons, and Team Vitality to take the runner-up spot, increasing their prize money from $74k to $305k.

Among the Korean teams, GeeKay finished highest in 6th place, while Gen.G and T1 finished 7th and 10th, respectively.

More information about EWC 2026 can be found on the official website and The Esports Foundation's LinkedIn page.