🚀 A Record-Breaking Year of Growth, Competition & Campus Pride
2025 was the biggest year yet for the Ireland Esports Collegiate Series. The past 12 months were defined by expansion, new competitive pathways, landmark partnerships, and more students competing than ever before.
Throughout the year, the Collegiate community pushed the scene forward in a way that put Ireland on the map as one of Europe’s most exciting emerging esports ecosystems. Within this article we will cover our 6 biggest moments from the past 12 months and give a little insight into whats to come in 2026…
🏆 24/25 Spring Series Champions
The year opened with the 2024/25 Spring Series, delivering another season of cross-campus rivalries competing in some of the biggest esports titles. The Online Finals brought together Ireland’s top student talent, producing standout champions.
To relive the action of these explosive finals, we pulled together a highlights package with standout plays from across all 7 titles which can be viewed here.
Title | Matchup | Winner |
|---|---|---|
League of Legends | TUD vs. QUB | QUB |
Rocket League | SETU vs. TCD | SETU |
Counter-Strike 2 | TCD vs. UL | UL |
Valorant | TUD (B) vs. TUD (A) | TUD (B) |
TFT | Full Lobby | TCD |
EA FC | MTU vs. UG | MTU |
Overwatch 2 | UCD vs. QUB | UCD |
Full article available here
📋 New Academic Year, New Format
Heading into Winter 2025/26, the Ireland Esports Collegiate Series expanded its competitive format with the introduction of two clear pathways: Premier Division and Open Division.
🎓 Premier Division
Our first-ever high-performance tier, designed for each institution’s top roster similar to varsity rugby or first-team football, but for esports. This became the battleground where institutions could earn respect by being crowned as the best of the best in their strongest titles.
Inaugural Titles: Rocket League, Valorant, League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2
🧑🤝🧑 Open Division
Still the beating heart of Collegiate - inclusive, social, developmental and creator-friendly. The Open Division allowed for multiple teams per institution, a place for all skill levels to compete and the perfect place for societies, emerging players and student creators to find their feet. This competition was comprised of our core titles seen in the Premier Division, but with two extras that are listed below.
Extra titles include: Overwatch 2, F1
This new structure unlocked higher performance at the top while preserving the grassroots, community-driven culture that powers the Collegiate scene.
Full article available here
☘ Ireland Esports Leagues Went Live
2025 marked a major milestone with the official launch of Ireland Esports Leagues, ushering in a new era for competitive gaming across the island of Ireland. The launch brought schools, colleges, communities, and workplaces together under one unified national ecosystem, with the Ireland Esports Collegiate Series continuing as the home of third-level competition and a key pillar of player development.
Following the launch, Ireland Esports Leagues quickly expanded its competitive footprint through partnerships with COD Ireland (Call of Duty), RL Ireland (Rocket League), and ICL (Counter-Strike 2). These collaborations strengthened national pathways, connected established gaming communities, and helped lay the foundations for sustainable growth across esports in Ireland heading into 2026.
Full article available here
🪽 We Grew Wings With Red Bull
Winter 2025/26 also welcomed a major new partner - Red Bull - joining the Ireland Esports Collegiate Series as an Official Sponsor and Official Energy Drink.
The partnership kicked off with the Red Bull Tetris Tournament, where Ireland’s students competed on a national leaderboard. The top collegiate performer, Gavin Harper (DCU), earned his place at the National Finals where he represented the Collegiate Series community at the Dublin event.
We look forward to building on this partnership over the academic year - there is more to come on this one.
Full article available here
🏆 25/26 Premier Division Winter Champions
With record participation and a brand-new two-tier system, the recent Winter Finals delivered some of the most competitive action we’ve ever seen. All of which is available to relive across our Twitch & YouTube channels.
Title | Matchup | Winner | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
League of Legends | UCD vs. TUD | UCD | View here |
Rocket League | SETU vs. TCD | SETU | View here |
Counter-Strike 2 | TCD vs. SETU | TCD | View here |
Valorant | UCD vs. DCU | UCD | View here |
Full article available here
🏆 25/26 Open Division Winter Champions
The Open Division worked as intended. Across the weeks of competition we as a community showcased it’s success through many new players jumping on to play, connections being built while maintaing a competitive edge.
Title | Matchup | Winner |
|---|---|---|
League of Legends | QUB Fishtank vs. UCD Hydras | QUB Fishtank |
Rocket League | TUD Apes vs. UCD Leviathans | TUD Apes |
Counter-Strike 2 | SETU Vikings B vs. TCD Rush B | TCD Rush B |
Valorant | TUD Antelopes vs. DCU Something | TUD Antelopes |
Overwatch 2 | UCD Leviathans vs. QUB Flip The Map | Friday @ 8pm |
F1 | Race 8 | Friday @ 8pm |
Full article available here
🔜 What’s To Come In 2026?
We hope you enjoyed this past year just as much as we did. As we now look towards the New Year just over the horizon we have already started work on how we can become bigger and better as we do every year.
While we can’t speak in too much depth we point towards an explosive Spring Series, further collaborations with our friends at Red Bull and LAN events that we can’t wait to reveal more about for you in the coming weeks.
Finally, we want to send our thanks to the amazing leaders running the many Esports Societies across the island and of course our network of epic Student Reps who help make this all possible.
In 2025 we raised the bar. 2026 is where we lift it again.
