The 2nd Japan Esports Awards to be Held In January 2025

The second annual Japan Esports Awards ceremony will be held in Tokyo, Japan, in January 2025. Interim results for some categories are currently being announced on the website, and online voting from fans is being accepted via social media.

What is the Japan Esports Awards?

The Japan Esports Awards is organized by the Japan Esports Union and the City of Yokohama, primarily aiming to celebrate outstanding athletes who have contributed to the field of Esports and promoting a culture of competition organizers, streamers, fashion, branding, and so on.

The awards ceremony took place for the first time in January 2024 where they celebrated ZETA DIVISION for the Best Esports Team Award, STREET FIGHTER 6 for the Best Esports Game Award to STREET FIGHTER 6, and “a-cola” (ZETA DIVISION) for the Best Esports Player of the Year Award, among others.

While Japan is of course well known as a producer of numbers of internationally popular game titles, the country comes somewhat behind Europe and North America when it comes to titles played in major international-level competitions, and has not been able to break into the ranks of the world's top players. In recent years, however, the popularity of esports has rapidly increased; for example many bookmakers operating in Japan provide odds on many esports titles and competitions, and are also working to train younger players for the next generation.

Celebrating Contributors to the Esports Industry with 17 Awards

The second edition of the Japan Esports Awards will present recipients of three main categories; Esports Players, Live Entertainment, and Esports Organizer, as well as Esports Distinguished Service Awards.

In addition to the three main categories of Esports Players, Live Entertainment, and Esports Organizer, Esports Distinguished Service Awards will be presented as a special award. Winners will be selected based on four criteria: outstanding performance in the year's competition, demonstration of outstanding skills that attract fans, contribution to the community, and influence on the Esports scene. Let's take a closer look at the categories here.

The Esports Players Category consists of eight winners in each game genre, selected by a panel of judges and a public vote, from which the Esports Player of the Year 2024 will be chosen by the judges.

• MOBA Player of the Year
• Fighting Game Player
• Sports Game Player
• Non section Game Player
• Shooting Game Player
• Mind Game Player
• eMotor sports Game Player
• Under 18 Esports Player

An important aspect of esports that attracts and connects with them is that it is a live entertainment, whether it is online streaming and LAN competitions. The Live Entertainment Category will select those who have contributed to creating such a culture in the following four categories:

• Streamer of the Year
• eSport Caster of the year
• Vtuber of the year
• Best bout of the year

The Esports Organizer Category celebrates the most fundamental elements of an Esports event: the game title, the team, and the best competition event.

• Esports Game of the year
• Esports Competition of the Year
• Esports Team of the Year

Finally, those who have made a contribution to the Esports industry will be honored with a Special Award award, Esports Distinguished Service Awards

Interim Announcement Revealing Who is Leading The Fan Voting

The organizer of the awards, Japan Esports Union, has announced on its website the interim results of the fan voting as of September 27, 2024, and revealed front-runners, primarily for player awards.

• MOBA Player of the Year
  DasheR/Evi/Yutapon

• Fighting Game Player
  acola/ Daigo Umehara/ gachikun/ Tachikawa

• Sports Game Player
  Udi/ Kuroyagi/ Ax/ Mayageka

• Non section Game Player
  Hametsu/ AKa/ alf/ KKM*/ kznk

• Shooting Game Player
  Yukio/ Laz/ Meiy/ nico/ zagou

• Mind Game Player
  Amemiya Taiyo/ Tasuku/ Pibonia/ SAKI/ title

• eMotor sports Game Player
  Kazushi Umezu/ Mamoru Okada/ Takuan/ Takuma Miyazono/ Sota Muto

• Under 18 Esports Player
  acola/ Doramigi/ Raru/ absol

• Esports Team of the Year
  Murash Gaming/ DetonatioNFocusMe/ REJECT/ Riddle/ SCARZ/ ZETA DIVISION

Acola and his team, ZETA DIVISION are up for Under 18 Esports Player and Best Esports Team respectively, both of whom are in the running for their second consecutive award.

The esports market is expected to grow further in the coming years. With the scope of esports to be added as an official sport in the future Olympics, the IOC is planning an official esports event in Saudi Arabia in 2025. It would definitely be interesting to see how well prepared Japan is for such a time.

The award ceremony will be held on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at the Pacifico Yokohama National Grand Hall.