The HLTV Awards Show 2025 was held in Serbia on January 10, bringing together the Counter-Strike esports as they celebrated the best moments and accomplishments from the year gone by. Broadcast live on platforms like Twitch, Kick and YouTube, it outperformed another early pace setter for 2026, the Awesome Games Done Quick 2026 by peak concurrent viewership.
Held at the newly renovated Sava Centar in Belgrade, the latest edition of the HLTV Award series hosted 1000 esteemed guests from the world of Counter-Strike and esports. The expanded awards weekend also featured a one-day Counter-Strike conference on January 9, encouraging discussions to improve the state of the game's ecosystem and keep it thriving for years to come.
As always, a lot of heavyweights from the esports world were present at this industry gathering, including many who were nominated in various categories. France was the big winner at the HLTV Awards Show 2025 as Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut won the Player of the Year award and Team Vitality took home the Team of the Year trophy.
- Player of the Year: Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
- Women's Player of the Year: Mayline-Joy "ASTRA" Champliaud
- Team of the Year: Team Vitality
- Women's Team of the Year: BIG EQUIPA
- Rookie of the Year: Danil "molodoy" Golubenko
- Opener of the Year: Danil "donk" Kryshkovets
- Closer of the Year: Robin "ropz" Kool
- Anchor of the Year: William "mezii" Merriman
- AWPer of the Year: ZywOo
- IGL of the Year: Dan "apEX" Madesclaire
- Coach of the Year: Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam
- Highlight of the Year: Danil "donk" Kryshkovets
- Talent of the Year: James "BanKs" Banks
- Event of the Year: StarLadder Budapest Major
- Streamer of the Year: Mark "ohnePixel" Zimmermann
- Creator of the Year: dima_aimbots
- Skin of the Year: JTPNZ - AWP | Printstream
Not much changed this year in terms of the awards and ceremony itself compared to 2024. There were three categories of awards on the night: HLTV Awards, Panel Awards and Community Awards. The Skin of the Year award, a popular category within a fanbase known for its obsession with in-game cosmetics, also returned for the 2025 show.
The Hall of Fame also continued its annual tradition, with the following names inducted as part of the Class of 2025:
- Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer
- Yegor "markeloff" Markelov
- Raphael "cogu" Camargo
The trio joined Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund, Emil "HeatoN" Christensen, and Tommy "Potti" Ingemarsson in an elite club.
In terms of viewership, the HLTV Awards Show 2025 ended as the series's most successful endeavor. It became the first iteration to notch over 1 million Hours Watched (HW) while also touching 280,342 Peak Viewers (PV), just about beating the mark set last year.
Such a strong performance was down to the interest generated within the community and among prominent co-casters. Names likeVadim "evelone2004" Kozakov, Mark "ohnepixel" Zimmermann and Sébastien "krl_stream" Perez made sure to catch the ceremony, helping attract more viewers and keep them engaged throughout the five hours of airtime.
The official HLTVorg channel, alongside evelone2004, also ended among Twitch's most-watched channels on January 10. In fact, the Russian sensation topped the charts, finishing as the only one to cross 100,00 PV on the day.
The HLTV Awards Show 2025 showed that there is a rising demand for such shows in the industry and among livestreaming fans, who want to see their favorite players, casters and streamers rewarded on the grandest stages. It also reiterated the enduring popularity of Counter-Strike, which enjoyed a great 2025 and continues to be the top choice for fans of the shooter genre.
