Connect with us

728x90 banner available here

Latest News

MOUZ Crowned Back-To-Back ESL Pro League Champions After 3-0 Victory During Season 19 Grand Finals

Published

on

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The 19th season of the ESL Pro League (EPL) has come to a spectacular conclusion in St. Julian’s, Malta, as MOUZ triumph during an action-packed Grand Final. Keeping the fans on the edge of their seats during three electrifying rounds, MOUZ maintained their position as EPL Champions and crushed Team Vitality 3 – 0.
Having been victorious during ESL Pro League Season 18 as well, MOUZ have been showing off their remarkable skill and determination throughout the tournament to win yet another EPL trophy. By laying claim to the coveted title, the German organization will take home $170,000 out of the $750,000 total prize pool and they have secured themselves a direct invite to the Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2024 Group Stage.

Furthermore, the squad now adds their second win in the race to secure Intel® Grand Slam V in their attempt to become the first team victorious at three ESL Pro Tour (EPT) Masters and one EPT Championship tournament in a span of ten consecutive competitions. The team to do so will not only obtain the $1,000,000 cash prize and iconic gold bars, but also etch their name in Counter-Strike history.

EPL Season 19 saw a peak viewership of over 376,000*. Moreover, the final three days of the tournament were played out in front of an intimate live audience, with fans from 40 different countries gathering in Malta to experience the culmination of the action.

Group Stage

The 19th season of the world’s biggest Counter-Strike league took off on April 23, as the 32 competing teams were split up in four groups of eight during the Group Stage. The top four of each group would make their way into the Playoffs, with the group’s winners going directly to the Quarterfinals, the group’s runners-up making their way to the Round-of-12, and the remaining teams continuing their battle in the Round-of-16.

In the first week of the league season, the stage was set for the teams in Groups A and B as they clashed in an attempt to secure one of 16 spots in the Playoffs. In Group A, the Danish squad of Astralis and 3DMAX’ French roster went head-to-head in the upper-bracket, with the Danes eventually being the first to claim their spot in the final stage of the tournament without dropping a single map. FaZe Clan and Virtus.pro also secured their Playoffs tickets, winning the mid-bracket and lower-bracket finals respectively.

Meanwhile, the competition in Group B was heating up as well, with Team Vitality remaining unbeaten and topping their group. The MongolZ, BetBoom Team, and G2 Esports finished second to fourth, thereby also proceeding to the Playoffs.

During the second week of EPL Season 19, it was time for the teams in Groups C and D to show off their skill and prove their worth. In Group C, MOUZ had a successful run and came out on top unbeaten, with Team Liquid claiming the second place. GamerLegion also managed to advance to the Playoffs via the mid-bracket, and so did Monte via the lower-bracket.

In Group D the battle was also on with many close rounds being played out. Eventually however, Complexity was the first to prevail, with Natus Vincere, BIG, and FlyQuest completing the top four and claiming the final Playoffs spots.

Playoffs

The Playoffs took place from May 7-12 and saw the top 16 teams compete in a single elimination bracket for a spot in the Grand Final. By the end of the second day there were just eight teams remaining, including EPL Season 17 winners FaZe Clan and IEM Cologne 2023 Champions G2 Esports. Despite an impressive run from both these teams, their journeys were cut short in the Quarterfinals by Team Vitality and reigning EPL Champions MOUZ respectively.

The Semifinals saw Astralis pitted against Team Vitality, and MOUZ pitted against Complexity in the latter team’s first-ever EPL Semifinal appearance. In an impressive display of resilience when tensions were at their highest, both Team Vitality and MOUZ managed to reverse sweep their opponents to secure their well-deserved spots in the Grand Final.

Team Vitality put on an especially notable performance against Astralis in the Semifinals, winning through overtime in the second game and using their newfound momentum to secure the game 3 win.

Before Team Vitality and MOUZ continued their journey into the Grand Final for the moment of truth, however, it was the time for broadcast talents Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill and Janko “YNk” Paunović to show if they, too, have what it takes during the Grand Final of the Qiddiya 1v1 tournament. Following 20 fast-paced rounds, YNk came out on top with a score of 13-7. Pitting all ESL Pro League broadcast talent against each other over the course of the three-week-long season, the Qiddiya 1v1 tournament provided fans tuning in during the live broadcast with an additional unique and exhilarating competition.

Grand Final

Reigning EPL Champions MOUZ started off the first game strong on Inferno, picking up momentum and reaching 9-3 at halftime with little resistance. Despite some good rounds in the second half, Team Vitality were unable to bring it back, and MOUZ ultimately claimed the win with a score of 13-9.

Game 2 started with an early 2-0 lead for Team Vitality, but MOUZ quickly shut that down, once again securing a 9-3 lead at halftime. Team Vitality’s resilience shone through with back-to-back clutches in rounds 14 and 15, but it was not enough to keep MOUZ from closing out the game 13-8.

At this point, MOUZ were unstoppable, and their dominance continued into game 3, dropping only two rounds in the first half, and three in the second. Despite Team Vitality’s Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut having his highest rated S-tier LAN performance, the French organization ultimately fell short and it was MOUZ who secured the Champions title in a triumphant finish for the second season in a row.

“Back-to-back, it feels amazing,” said Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo of MOUZ. “It means a lot. It’s been a long time since we won so it’s good to win a Tier 1 trophy again, especially with this team. It’s amazing that we won.”

With their well-deserved win, MOUZ take home the $170,000 grand prize, qualify for IEM Cologne later this year, and take one step closer to securing Intel® Grand Slam V.

Additionally, MOUZ’ Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek was awarded the EPT DHL MVP award for his exceptional performance, and said: “We came into this tournament very fired up and the form that we showed here was amazing. I can only perform well with my teammates playing so good as well, so thank you very much to them.”

The post MOUZ Crowned Back-To-Back ESL Pro League Champions After 3-0 Victory During Season 19 Grand Finals appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

George Miller (Gyorgy Molnar) started his career in content marketing and has started working as an Editor/Content Manager for our company in 2016. George has acquired many experiences when it comes to interviews and newsworthy content becoming Head of Content in 2017. He is responsible for the news being shared on multiple websites that are part of the European Gaming Media Network.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 (25-26 March)
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Latest News

PSG want to be the club of the new generation — and gaming has to be a part of it!

Published

on

Reading Time: 3 minutes

esport-news.co.uk recently sat down with PSG’s brand and business development Nadia Benmokhtar. She spoke about how PSG’s investment into eSports has already seen massive engagement in Asia, how they plan to be a part of the new generation through eSports and how they can diversify their audience.

If you are to use any of the content below, please link to https://esports-news.co.uk/ or the following article, where you can find the full interview: https://esports-news.co.uk/2025/10/20/psg-esports-interview-why-football-clubs-invest

Highlights from the inteview: 

  • “At PSG, we want to be the club of the new generation — and when you say new generation, gaming has to be part of it.”(Nadia on why esports is central to PSG’s brand identity.)
  • “When we entered esports, we didn’t just want to do FIFA. We wanted to be present in major games with big audiences.”(On PSG’s bold approach to expanding beyond traditional football titles.)
  • “We partner with people who understand the scene — Vitality and Talon are not just teams, they’re real brands.”(On building authentic, long-term collaborations in esports.)
  • “Esports allows us to diversify our audience, expand globally, and connect with communities that might not start as football fans but can still become PSG fans.”(On the club’s goal of global fan engagement through gaming.)
  • “We started with esports for credibility, but now we’re exploring the entire gaming universe — from mobile titles to digital experiences like Roblox.”(On PSG’s next phase of gaming innovation.)

___________________________________________________________

PSG are using gaming to be a part of the new generation

“The goal with eSports is to grow the audience across different touchpoints, increase the brand exposure, and also diversify that audience because we want to target people that are not especially football fans at the beginning. But with esports, you can create a different kind of connection. We know that it’s a very engaged market. It’s also a way to target different territories. If you look at PSG, as an example, the French League is not very visible in Asia. So you can say that through esports, you will find a different way to connect with this type of audience. So it’s really part of the club strategy. So first, we are a multi-club sport. We have football, of course, men’s football, but we also have women’s football, handball, judo, and esports is really considered as a sports section in the club. But for sure, we aim to be at PSG, the club of the new generation. That’s our brand positioning. And when you say new generation, of course, gaming should be part of it.”

Brand recognition in Asia was key

“Asia has been one of the key territories for us since launch. We had an important partnership on the game Dota 2 with a Chinese company, LGD. So we had a very successful team with LGD, but at the end, Dota became a game very costly and to us it didn’t make sense to just spend millions in player salaries with no return on investment. With LGD, it was a new partner with a team that is already very big, and you just enter and do a big, big push. With Talon, the story was a bit different because we really grew together.”

PSG have already seen a great return on their eSports investments

“It depends on what kind of return you want. The initial objective was not pure revenue; it was more exposure. So if you look at brand exposure, fan engagement, brand coolness, yes, for sure, the return is there. If you look at the finance, not yet, but I think it will come. And it’s also a way to link it with the future strategy. So we really feel that we are now only at the beginning of the story when it comes to PSG and gaming. We entered through esports and I think that was great because that gives us also credibility now to speak about all the other verticals.”

PSG want fans of the club, not just their football teams

“If you can convert an esports fan into a football fan, a PSG fan, it’s cool. But I think what we want is to have a PSG fan. And if you are a fan of the club because you are a fan of our League of Legends team, that’s enough for me. I’m happy to have you in my base. And our whole job is to offer them what they want as an esports fan. That’s why we have a lot of work internally at the moment about the database, where the fans are, who they are, and what they are expecting from us. If you are a young League of Legends fan based in Hong Kong and you love PSG thanks to esports, and you are just expecting us to be able to sell you an esports jersey in Hong Kong, which is not the case now, we will try to develop this to be able to make you happy.”

 

The post PSG want to be the club of the new generation — and gaming has to be a part of it! appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading

Latest News

TrueLayer to Acquire Zimpler, Creating a European Pay by Bank Powerhouse

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

TrueLayer, Europe’s leading Pay by Bank network, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Zimpler, the fastest growing Pay by Bank network in the Nordics. The acquisition will bring together two of Europe’s most innovative Pay by Bank providers, further strengthening TrueLayer as a formidable force in the European payments industry.

This acquisition marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of Pay by Bank across Europe. By expanding TrueLayer’s pan-European network and deep expertise in payment technology with Zimpler’s strong position in the Nordic market, TrueLayer will be uniquely positioned to further accelerate the shift from legacy card payments to smarter, faster, and more secure payments via Pay by Bank.

The acquisition is another clear step forward for TrueLayer in its mission to build a powerful alternative to legacy payments in Europe, fostering greater competition, innovation and value for businesses and their consumers.

With some of the highest adoption rates of account-to-account (A2A) payments anywhere in the world, the Nordic region has been a proving ground for Pay by Bank. By acquiring Zimpler, TrueLayer will have more than 20 million users and will add coverage across key markets such as Sweden, Finland, and will add additional A2A capabilities through the Swish payment rail integration. This significantly strengthens TrueLayer’s pan-European network, accelerating the shift to smarter, safer, and more cost-effective payments.

Founded in 2012 by Johan Friis and Kristofer Ekman Sinclair, Zimpler has grown rapidly to become a Pay by Bank leader in the Nordics. TrueLayer is proud to welcome Zimpler’s founders and shareholders on this journey – joining the likes of Stripe, Northzone, and Tiger Global in backing its mission to transform the way the world pays.

“I am excited to welcome the Zimpler team to TrueLayer,” said Francesco Simoneschi, Co-founder and CEO of TrueLayer. We’ve long admired their progress, and we’re excited to add such an incredible group of builders and payment experts to the TrueLayer team We’re not just expanding our footprint in the Nordics – we’re combining talent, technology, and scale to accelerate Pay by Bank adoption across the continent, and further strengthening Pay by Bank as a force of disruption that is changing how the world pays.

Joining forces with TrueLayer is a fantastic opportunity to build the leading Pay by Bank provider in Europe” said Johan Strand, CEO of Zimpler. “TrueLayer has a proven track record of innovation and a powerful network. Our combined strengths will allow us to offer an even more compelling proposition to the market. Joining TrueLayer will enable us to reach new heights and drive the next wave of growth in the industry. At the same time, we remain firmly anchored in Sweden, with our local licence and expertise ensuring continuity for our customers.”

The post TrueLayer to Acquire Zimpler, Creating a European Pay by Bank Powerhouse appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading

Latest News

SPORTRADAR AWARDED UNITED ARAB EMIRATES LICENSE

Published

on

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ: SRAD) has been granted a gaming-related vendor license from the United Arab Emirates’s General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), an independent entity of the UAE Federal Government with exclusive jurisdiction to regulate, license, and supervise all commercial gaming activities.

The license, operational with immediate effect, affords Sportradar the opportunity to provide its products and services to licensed operators.

Sportradar looks forward to bringing its 20+ year expertise and proprietary sports technology to operators and clients in the region. 

The post SPORTRADAR AWARDED UNITED ARAB EMIRATES LICENSE appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading

Trending

EEGaming.org is part of HIPTHER, parent brand of various prominent news outlets and international conferences. These platforms and events span a wide range of industries, including Entertainment, Technology, Gaming and Gambling, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Quantum Technology, Legal Cannabis, Health and Lifestyle, VR/AR, eSports, and several others. This indicates that EEGaming.org is part of a larger network that focuses on a diverse array of sectors, particularly those related to cutting-edge technology and modern lifestyle trends.

Contact us: [email protected]

Editorial / PR Submissions: [email protected]

Copyright © 2015 - 2025 HIPTHER. All Rights Reserved. Registered in Romania under Proshirt SRL, Company number: 2134306, EU VAT ID: RO21343605. Office address: Blvd. 1 Decembrie 1918 nr.5, Targu Mures, Romania

We are constantly showing banners about important news regarding events and product launches. Please turn AdBlock off in order to see these areas.