Dplus Kia took the League of Legends crown at the Esports World Cup in Paris on Sunday, shutting out Karmine Corp in a clean 3-0 sweep. The South Korean squad dominated the best-of-five final, leaving the French crowd with little to cheer for as their home team couldn't take a single game.
A dominant performance
From the first draft to the final nexus explosion, Dplus Kia looked in control. Karmine Corp, playing in front of a partisan Parisian audience, tried to force early fights but couldn't convert. The series ended in under two hours — a rare one-sided grand final for a tournament of this scale.
Dplus Kia's win marks another international trophy for the organization, though the team's roster has seen changes since its last major title. Karmine Corp, meanwhile, will have to wait for another shot at glory on home soil.
Viewership numbers
The League of Legends event drew 1.4 million viewers, according to data released by the Esports World Cup organizers. That figure includes concurrent viewers across all platforms — Twitch, YouTube, and local broadcast partners. It's a solid number for a standalone tournament, though it doesn't match the peaks of the annual League of Legends World Championship.
Still, the Esports World Cup is a relatively new property, and organizers are likely pleased with the engagement. The event ran alongside other titles in the same venue, which may have split attention but also brought in cross-game audiences.
Other champions crowned
The same week in Paris saw champions crowned in two other disciplines. Free Fire and the MLBB Women's Invitational both wrapped up their brackets, though the Esports World Cup didn't release viewership figures for those events separately. The multi-title format is a deliberate strategy — the organizers want to create a festival atmosphere rather than a single-game focus.
That approach has its trade-offs. Some fans complained about scheduling overlaps, but the variety also attracted sponsors who want exposure across multiple esports demographics.
Dota 2 final still pending
One major piece of the Esports World Cup puzzle remains unsolved. The Dota 2 grand final had not been played at the time of this report, with the tournament still ongoing. That match will determine which team takes home the largest share of the Dota 2 prize pool and closes out the Paris event.
Organizers have not announced a make-up date or explained the delay. It's an unusual situation for a live event — typically grand finals are the anchor of the schedule. Whether the delay was caused by technical issues, travel problems, or something else hasn't been disclosed.
The Esports World Cup is already being promoted for 2026, suggesting the organizers see a long-term future for the multi-title format. But for now, the focus is on wrapping up the remaining matches and sending the champions home.
