China’s esports ecosystem has been buzzing with milestones beyond the League of Legends World Championship in recent days. After a rocky opening for League of Legends Pro League (LPL) teams at Worlds 2026 (S16), the region has staged a steady comeback, while Valorant’s PC client in China has crossed the 100 million registered user mark — both updates have captured widespread attention among players.
On the first day of the Swiss stage, all four LPL representatives fell in their matches, leaving many fans uneasy about the region’s prospects at this year’s tournament. The slump did not last, however. On October 26, Invictus Gaming (iG) defeated South Korea’s Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), and Top Esports (TES) beat European powerhouse G2 Esports, lifting both squads into the 2-win, 1-loss bracket.
iG claimed a convincing win, with bot laner JiaQi notching a quadra kill in a decisive team fight. TES, meanwhile, secured its victory through calculated positioning and crowd control led by 369 on Ambessa, capitalizing on openings to close out the series. Following the two victories, the topic “iG and TES both advance to 2-1 bracket” shot to the top of Chinese social media trending charts.
Even better news arrived for iG fans on October 29. Going up against LYON, iG went the full three-game distance and took the series 2-1, finishing the Swiss stage with a 3-1 record and becoming the first LPL team to lock in a quarterfinals berth. This marks iG’s first return to the Worlds knockout stage since 2019. In the final game, JiaQi’s Caitlyn built an early lead and landed a triple kill in a high-stakes team fight. The win has lifted some of the gloom that had settled over the LPL region.
That said, it is far too early for the region to celebrate. Both TES and Bilibili Gaming (BLG) hold 2-1 records, and their upcoming head-to-head matchup means one team will have to battle through further matches to clinch a knockout spot. Recovering from a poor start is an encouraging sign, but how far the teams can progress in the knockout stage will be decided one series at a time.
Off the rift, Valorant has also hit a major landmark. On October 27, officials announced that the game’s PC version had surpassed 100 million cumulative registered users in China, alongside the launch of a commemorative “100 Million Strong” campaign. Players can unlock exclusive player cards, medals and other in-game rewards by completing designated login tasks and activity missions on the official mobile companion app, with social media merchandise giveaways also running in tandem. The October 29 game update introduced a new agent, Xia Si, a character with roots in Guangdong.
It is important to clarify that the 100 million figure refers to cumulative registered accounts, not concurrent players or daily active users. Even so, it stands as a notable milestone for a competitive PC-focused title.
With iG already through to the quarterfinals, the qualification picture for the remaining LPL teams remains uncertain, and Valorant is rolling out fresh content on the back of its user milestone. Looking ahead, it remains to be seen whether Worlds will serve up more surprises for viewers, and whether the new Valorant update can sustain player interest. For fans who have been following the tournaments and jumping into matches lately, there is still plenty to look forward to.
*Data aggregation is sourced from Gghubs.