GAM at the Esports World Cup: Our Paris Story

We said Vietnam to the World. In July, the world was Paris.

GAM went to the Esports World Cup 2026 as one of 40 Official Club Partners, and the only one from Vietnam. Two teams carried the gold: our League of Legends roster, and GAM x Team Expendables (GAMxTE), our PUBG PC squad. Behind them came 30 Super Fans, six partners, and a nation watching from home.

Four kills to none, against T1

GAM and T1 on the Esports World Cup stage, Paris, July 15.

The draw gave us the hardest opening in the game: T1, five-time world champions, in a best of one.

And for a few minutes, Paris belonged to Vietnam. GAM won every early fight on the top side of the map and went up 4-0 in kills. Gloryy solo-killed Faker. The arena heard it, and so did more than 800,000 people watching live, the biggest audience of the first day of League of Legends at the Esports World Cup. T1 found their footing, won the fights around dragon and Baron, and closed the game out. But nobody who saw that opening will forget it.

T1 vs GAM, the top match of day one. Data: Esports Charts.

"For a moment there, at 4-0 against T1, I really thought my dreams were about to come true," said TK Nguyen, Founder and CEO of GAM Entertainment. "I am super proud of how our team showed up."

A series win, and T1 again

The same day, GAM came back and beat Movistar KOI 2-1 to stay alive, a European powerhouse sent home by the team from Vietnam.

That set up the rematch. GAM vs T1, best of three, July 16, a place in the quarterfinals on the line. T1 took game one. In game two, T1 built an early lead, and GAM refused to fold: big teamfights, a Baron, and a comeback that pulled the game back within reach late on. It was close enough to make Paris hold its breath. T1 held on to win the series, but that is what esports is about: the best in the world, made to fight for every inch.

GAM and T1 after the series, Paris, July 16.

Two meetings with T1 in two days. That is the stage this roster now knows.

GAMxTE in the Grand Finals

Road to Paris: the League of Legends roster (left) and GAMxTE (right).

In PUBG, GAM x Team Expendables finished eighth across the group stage and earned a place in the Grand Finals among the best squads in the world. The week did not go the way TND, Leviz, TanVuu, Clories, DuckhjeuZ, and Hoangf wanted, but they carried GAM's colors into a second title at the Esports World Cup. Two titles, two teams, one flag.

The #GAMFAM went too

TK and the Super Fans, front row in Paris.

Thirty Super Fans flew from Vietnam to Paris. They came off the plane, went straight to the venue, and walked in as GAM and T1 were being introduced on the main stage. Then they took their seats in the front row for the best of one. You cannot script a first hour in Paris like that.

Later in the week, the Super Fans, the players, and the GAM media team gathered at the Eiffel Tower for a picnic, Parisian style: bread, cheese, and the whole family together.

"Esports has given me the chance to travel the world," TK said. "But to look around and see my team enjoying it too, and then see 30 Super Fans from Vietnam there with us, all together, that is a moment I am sure everyone will remember for the rest of their lives."

Watch party, GAM style

Back home, we did not do a normal watch party. Together with Gen.G and Monster Energy, we took over Ciné Saigon, one of the top 100 clubs in the world. GAM Girls opened the show, a DJ and MC kept the energy up, and the #GAMFAM watched the world stage like a night out. Gen.G hosted its own party in Busan at the same time: two countries, one club collaboration, 500 fans in the room.

Watch the watch party recap.

It is the GAM way: take what Vietnam does best, nightlife and entertainment, and use it to level up what it feels like to be a fan.

By the numbers

The Esports World Cup 2026 (organizer figures)

• 850 million viewers, in 160 countries receiving the live broadcast
• 440 million hours watched
• 175,000 tickets sold in Paris
• $75 million+ in prize money, a record for any esports event

GAM's EWC campaign, April to July 2026

• 24.4 million views across GAM's EWC campaigns
• 684,000 engagements
• 373 social posts and 32 press articles
• 9.4 million views for GAM x Jabbawockeez, including a takeover of seven digital billboards in Ho Chi Minh City
• 800,000+ peak viewers for GAM vs T1, the most-watched match of day one of League of Legends at the Esports World Cup (Esports Charts)
• 2.26 million views for TK's sit-down with Karmine Corp, Club Leaders Face Off, on the Esports World Cup channel

TK and Karmine Corp on set for Club Leaders Face Off.

The creators who carried it home

Our creators took the #GAMFAM to Paris with them. Remind Nè's Esports World Cup posts drew more than 3.1 million views, and SangTraan's more than 1.7 million, carrying the story far past match day and into feeds across Vietnam. Thank you both for joining the movement and showing the world what Vietnamese creators can do.

A seat at the table

When the Esports World Cup closed on August 23, it did so at the Grand Palais in front of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Emmanuel Macron, Cristiano Ronaldo, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. TK was in the room, representing GAM and Vietnam as a Club Partner.

Gen.G, T1, and GAM leadership at the Grand Palais.

Read the full story of the closing ceremony.

Thank you to the partners who flew with us

FPT, Vietjet, Monster Energy, Logitech G, OWNDAYS, and Lazada were with us in Paris. When Vietnam walked onto the biggest stage in esports, they were part of it, and that moment belongs to them too.

Vietnam to the World

Thirteen years ago, GAM was two net cafe teams nobody was watching. This July we stood on the same stage as T1, went 4-0 up on the greatest team in the game, and brought 30 fans along to see it.

"Vietnam to the World is not a slogan. In Paris it was a front row full of Vietnamese fans, a team that went toe to toe with T1, and a flag on the biggest stage in esports," TK said. "We saw exactly how high the bar is, and we are building GAM to clear it. This movement is just getting started, and the next time Vietnam walks onto that stage, we want even more of the #GAMFAM there with us."

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Rise As One. It's GAM TIME.