PlayTime are the Games of the Future 2026 Champions

After a catastrophic event during the Esports World Cup 2026, PlayTime managed to turn things around, win the Games of the Future 2026 with a couple of new players on the roster, and take a big payout home before the new season begins.

Let's take a look at how PlayTime and their adversaries managed to reach the Grand Final, who they faced along the way, and how this might affect their performance after The International.

PlayTime Tripped Along the Way to the Top

The modified GSL format gave this tournament a fresh feeling of uniqueness, and this was reflected in the results as both Grand Finalists suffered defeats along the way.

PlayTime managed to defeat Team Resilience in Group B but lost the winners' match against the Rune Eaters and was seeded into the Playoff Decider against Execration, where they won 2-1.

In the Quarterfinals, they faced GLYPH and secured another 2-1 victory before defeating Team Resilience again in the Semifinals to advance straight to the Grand Final, since the tournament featured a third-place decider instead of a Lower Bracket.

Yakult Brothers Finally Found Some Space

With the other two big Chinese teams busy at 1win Essence II, the Yakult Brothers finally found some space to shine and made the best of it. Their Group Stage run was even more intriguing than PlayTime's, and they avoided elimination after defeating Enjoy in the Elimination Match.

In the Decider Match, the Yakult Brothers made a miraculous comeback against REKONIX after beginning the best-of-three series trailing 1-0 and eventually advanced with a 2-1 victory.

The Quarterfinal was a Chinese face-off, with Yakult winning 2-1 after mounting another comeback against Vici Gaming, while their Semifinal was a hard-fought back-and-forth victory against the Rune Eaters.

PlayTime are the Games of the Future 2026 Champions

Despite their journey as a "comeback team," the Yakult Brothers could not stop PlayTime, and their improvised roster ended up securing a perfect 3-0 victory in the Grand Final.

Before the season comes to an end, PlayTime managed to earn an impressive $350,000 prize for first place. The Yakult Brothers left the two Chinese superpowers behind to claim $160,000 for second place, while Team Resilience also took part in a surprising Chinese duo by earning $120,000 for third place.

Closing Thoughts

This tournament featured many smaller teams despite its million-dollar prize pool and ended up being a perfect opportunity for them to gather resources before The International 2026 kicks off the new season in the professional Dota 2 circuit.

PlayTime surprised everyone once again by winning a tournament immediately after a significant change to their roster following an ESIC investigation during the Esports World Cup 2026.

The Rune Eaters also made an impressive run and finished in the Top 4 after losing the third-place decider. Their roster is an amalgamation of experienced players from very different regions and cultures, but it seems to have the potential to become something even greater if they stick together for a while.

If you want to stay informed about more surprises involving roster changes, The International 2026, and much more, remember to check the news section on the Strafe website!

READ MORE: Team Liquid Are the 1win Essence II Champions

Featured Image Source: Facebook (playtimesportsnow)