Starting January 2026, ESEA League now be a VRS Ranked Event and contribute toward the VRS Points Ranking.
All regions now use a unified format built from several Groups: from Advanced, Main, Intermediate, Entry, down to Open10 (EU) and Open9-10 (NA).
Each season runs a Regular Season then the Playoffs before the final Finals format:
- The best teams in each group qualify for that group’s playoffs
- The top four teams from each Group qualify for the Finals
- The Finals connects all VRS-ranked Groups in one bracket, where lower Groups start earlier and higher Groups later. For example, the best Playoff Open teams play teams from Entry, then Intermediate, then Main, then Advanced.
- The best two teams per region earn wildcard qualification to ESL Challenger League (ECL), the final step before ESL Pro League (EPL).