With Christmas and New Year around the corner, British Esports wants to wish you all festive Season’s Greetings. In 12 days of Christmas fashion, we wrap up the year with 12 of our highlights from 2025.
British Esports kicked off the new year strongly by announcing Michael ‘ODEE’ O’Dell as the new Great Britain (GB) Esports Team Manager for rosters competing in international esports tournaments.
As a founding member of the British Esports Advisory Board, former Chief Gaming Officer at London Royal Ravens and Co-Founder of Team Dignitas, ODEE is regarded as a driving force in shaping the competitive esports landscape.
Throughout his career, ODEE has mentored, coached and developed hundreds of professional esports athletes, significantly contributing to the growth of talent across a variety of competitive games. Today he is Director of Esports and Gaming at Scan Computers.
We kicked off a national search for hidden esports talent in March 2025, offering rising Rocket League talent the chance to shine at a major event.
The British Esports Cup Ft. Rocket League was a first-of-its-kind independent community tournament open to all UK players aged 13 and above.
Teams of three had an opportunity to compete for a £5,000 prize pool and the chance to be featured live at bp pulse LIVE (by the Birmingham NEC) ahead of the RLCS 2025 Birmingham Major.
The team known as 75% beat Tokyo Tigers in the final, with both teams featuring all-UK rosters. It was Gawfs, rehzzy and accro who were victorious on the day, besting Kash, noahsaki and Pluvo.
In March, British Esports launched new esports coaching and safeguarding courses online as part of our mission to improve standards and support the professionalisation of the esports industry, in collaboration with UK Coaching, 1st4sport, NSPCC, UNICEF UK and the National Crime Agency.
The ‘Duty to Care in Esports’ course is a free online learning programme based around seven key pillars of Safeguarding, Child Rights, Online Safety, Cyber Choices, Mental Health, EDI and Health & Wellbeing.
The separate ‘Introduction to Esports Coaching’ course is endorsed and certified by UK Coaching, the only independent representative body for coaches in the UK, and its awarding organisation,1st4sport. It is designed to provide esports coaches, both new and experienced, with an understanding of effective coaching principles and practices.
It was announced live on BBC Breakfast that our flagship Gaming and Esports Arena will open in summer 2026, after multi-million pound financing was approved by a leading High Street bank.
Custom-built for live events, elite competition, and immersive audience experiences, the 200-seat theatre boasts a 17m-wide LED screen, broadcast, content and editing studios, retail and hospitality, performance rooms and an expansive outdoor activation space.
The first of its kind esports arena in Europe, which aims to be one of the best in the world, will also become a training and education hub where athletes can practise under tournament conditions with lights, an audience area and a stage, replicating the thrill of intense, live esports competition.
Throughout 2025 the Ministry of Defence and the British Esports Federation partnered for a series of new military esports collaborations.
The Royal Navy partnered with British Esports launched an esports facility aboard UK aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in the summer, featuring gaming gear from the likes of Alienware, NVIDIA and Intel.
Those in attendance included members of the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Esports Association (SGEA), the national body British Esports, and Deputy Commander UK Strategic Command, Lt Gen Sir Tom Copinger-Symes, who has been championing esports across UK Defence.
In summer 2025 we saw the Student Champs Grand Finals hosted at our National Esports Performance Campus (NEPC) in Sunderland for the first time!
This brought a whole new level of production and experience to not only our competing students, but those in the broadcast, from College of Esports (who got to work first hand with the fantastic team at EPIC.LAN to help create and produce the entire final).
In the link above, Emma ‘Emzii’ Rose looks back on the winners from the 2024/25 Student Champs Finals LAN, with photos by Jonas Kontautas.
The British Esports Federation made several new hires this year as it ramps up operations to position its Sunderland HQ as a prime destination for gamers, local businesses, esports teams, sponsors and more.
In November we announced (pictured, left to right) Stephen Gallagher as Commercial Vice President, Ashleigh Mattinson as Business Development Manager, Louis Skilton as Graduate Intern and Meredith Brady as Operations Executive.
The growth in headcount is part of a renewed strategy to increase the number of activities and opportunities offered by British Esports to guests and sponsors, particularly within its National Esports Performance Campus (NEPC) in Sunderland. And The Place opened its office spaces and accommodation up to non-esports bookings.
British Esports, the national esports federation for the United Kingdom, has today announced a new partnership with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) to boost esports opportunities for students.
The two organisations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will see ASCL members – such as headteachers, CEOs of multi-academy trusts and other education leaders across the UK – gain access to expert support, advice and guidance around competitive video gaming.
In November, Esports Global announced the acquisition of NSE (National Student Esports), and has appointed the British Esports Federation to run the UK university esports provider going forwards.
This move brings together two of the biggest providers of student tournaments and esports education initiatives in the UK and Europe, to form a new epicentre of gaming and esports.
In 2025, British Esports’ award-winning Women in Esports initiative added new members to its committee, and announced the return of the Lioness Cup, a VALORANT tournament for women which Sunderland College students help British Esports to run.
Senior military representatives from more than 40 countries gathered in London recently for the launch of the International Defence Esports Games (IDEG), joining several others from British Esports and the Ministry of Defence.
International work
In late 2025, Exeter College students represented UK schools and colleges on an esports cultural exchange event supported by the British Council and British Embassy in Doha, Qatar, as part of the 10th UK-Qatar Creative Industries Forum.
Elsewhere, College of Esports and Oldham College students had a trip to South Korea in conjunction with major esports team organisation Gen.G.
British Esports VP Tom Dore travelled to Malaysia at the invitation of The Commonwealth to attend the 10th Commonwealth Youth Ministerial Task Force meeting and associated 5th Global Youth Work Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
The events reaffirmed youth as the drivers of change across the Commonwealth and championed investment in young people.
And Tom Dore, British Esports Head of Education Kalam Neale and the Commonwealth Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding in summer 2025 with the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP) to develop the country’s first esports policy.
Looking ahead
With British Esports’ 10-year anniversary approaching, our esports talks at Bett UK 2026 coming from January 21st to 23rd and our Gaming and Esports Arena set to open, 2026 is shaping up to be another exciting year for British Esports.