Asian Champions League 2026 announced

The Hero Esports Asian Champions League 2026 has been officially announced with the details of the event taking place next year being revealed. The tournament will once again be a LAN event with a prize pool of $150,000 on the line for the best of Asia to grab. The tournament will kick off in January 2026 with the Open Qualifiers and will be followed by the Closed Qualifiers leading into the Playoffs with the latter two stages being a LAN setup.

The format and schedule has been announced with the Open Qualifiers kicking off things, which will be held online between January 2026 - March 2026. This will be followed by the Closed Qualifiers which will be a LAN event from end April to May 2026 before the Playoffs take place in mid May 2026. The schedule is as follows:

The Closed Qualifier will have a total of 16 teams with their also being 1 wildcard invited team. 4 teams from the Closed Qualifier will make it to the Playoffs. The winner will walk away with a prize pool of $80,000 with the runner up taking $30,000.

TYLOO won the Asian Champions League 2025, earlier this year, which helped the secure a spot at the Esports World Cup 2025. Indian team Gods Reign were also a part of the event, being one of the invited teams at the Closed Qualifiers but had a disastrous run, finishing in 13-16th position. It was also one of the final events for the Indian team before the organisation walked away from the sport.