by Chinese team 17 Gaming won the Battle Royale PUBG: Battlegrounds tournament at Games of the Future Astana 2026, finishing the three-day competition with 131 points.
The champion squad finished 11 points ahead of second-place GAM The Expendables, while Team Vitality took third place. The winner took home the top prize of $300.000 from a total prize pool of $1 million.
PUBG: Battlegrounds at GOTF 2026
The Battle Royale tournament was held from July 31 to August 2 in the Beeline Arena in Astana. All 16 teams played together during three competitive days, and the final order was determined by the total number of points won through placement and eliminations.
Unlike Dota 2 and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournaments, the PUBG discipline did not have groups, quarter-finals, semi-finals and a grand final. A total of 15 matches were played, five each during each competition day. In each match, the teams won points for placement and eliminations, while the last surviving team won the Chicken Dinner.
Tournament participants
Photo source: GOTF Astana 2026 official website
The following teams participated in the tournament:
- 17 Gaming
- Anyone's Legend
- DIGA Esports
- DN SOOPers
- FULL SENSE
- GAM The Expendables
- Geekay Esports
- JD Gaming
- Made in thailand
- R8 Esports
- Shadow Esports
- T1
- Team Falcons
- Team Vitality
- Twisted Minds
- Virtus.pro
Day One: Team Vitality Takes the Lead
The first day brought five different stories and four teams winning the Chicken Dinner.
- Match 1: Anyone's Legend
- Match 2: Team Vitality
- Match 3: 17 Gaming
- Match 4: Team Vitality
- Match 5: DN SOOPers
Anyone's Legend opened the competition with a seven-elimination victory. Team Vitality responded in the second match, where they took a patient approach to reach the Chicken Dinner with six eliminations.
Photo source: official website of GOTF Astana 2026
The third match belonged to the 17 Gaming team, which precisely timed the final attack and temporarily took over the top of the overall standings. Team Vitality achieved their second victory of the day in the fourth match and returned to the fight for the leading position.
In the last match of the first day, the favorites were eliminated earlier than expected. DN SOOPers took advantage of the situation and won their first Chicken Dinner.
Team Vitality finished the first day on top with 50 points, ahead of Team 17 Gaming.
Day Two: 17 Gaming takes first place
On the second day, five more teams achieved victories:
- Match 1: Team Falcons
- Match 2: Team Vitality
- Match 3: DIGA Esports
- Match 4: Shadow Esports
- Match 5: 17 Gaming
Team Falcons opened the day with disciplined play and a victory over GAM The Expendables in the finals of the first match.
Team Vitality achieved another Chicken Dinner in the second match, this time with 11 eliminations, and took the lead again. The third match brought a special celebration to the home crowd as the Kazakh team DIGA Esports achieved their first victory in the tournament.
Shadow Esports surprised the competition with a victory in the fourth match. Going into the final match of the day, Team Vitality had 80 points, while GAM The Expendables was at 76.
In the final match, 17 Gaming achieved Chicken Dinner with as many as 17 eliminations. With that result, the team finished the second day in first place with 89 points. Team Vitality had 82 and GAM The Expendables had 78 points.
Final day: the last five Chicken Dinners
The winners of the last day's matches were:
- Match 1: Twisted Minds
- Match 2: GAM The Expendables
- Match 3: DN SOOPers
- Match 4: Geekay Esports
- Match 5: Team Falcons
In the first match of the final day, Twisted Minds defended a key position and reached the Chicken Dinner with 13 eliminations. Despite that win, 17 Gaming further extended their lead over Team Vitality.
GAM The Expendables won the second match with 13 eliminations to take second place overall. In the third match, DN SOOPers defeated Anyone's Legend to win their second Chicken Dinner of the tournament.
Geekay Esports won the fourth match after a successful three-on-three final fight.
The last Chicken Dinner went to Team Falcons, who eliminated GAM The Expendables in the final and defeated R8 Esports. However, by that point, 17 Gaming had already won enough points to claim the title.
17 Gaming to the title thanks to eliminations
17 Gaming finished the competition with a total of 131 points. As many as 78 points came through the eliminations, which shows how important the aggressive and efficient play of the Chinese team was for the final result.
GAM The Expendables finished in second place with 120 points, while Team Vitality, after leading on day one, took third place with 106 points.
Twisted Minds finished fourth with 105 points. Geekay Esports and Team Falcons each had 101 points, but the official standings separated them into fifth and sixth place under tie-breaking rules.
Final ranking of all 16 teams
File: GOTF_2026_PUBG_konacni_ranking.png
- 17 Gaming – 131 points
- GAM The Expendables – 120 points
- Team Vitality – 106 points
- Twisted Minds – 105 points
- Geekay Esports – 101 points
- Team Falcons – 101 points
- Anyone's Legend
- Made in thailand
- DN SOOPers
- T1
- Shadow Esports
- JD Gaming
- FULL SENSE
- DIGA Esports
- Virtus.pro
- R8 Esports
The complete placement schedule is taken from the official Games of the Future results platform. In the final press release of the organizers, the points for the leading six teams were published, while for the other participants, the final positions were listed on the results platform without displaying the total number of points. For this reason, points for places from seventh to sixteenth were not added from unofficial sources.
Final Top 4
- 17 Gaming – 131 points
- GAM The Expendables – 120 points
- Team Vitality – 106 points
- Twisted Minds – 105 points
The first champion of the Games of the Future Astana 2026
By winning the Battle Royale event, 17 Gaming became the first trophy winner at the Games of the Future Astana 2026.
During 15 matches, the team showed that the PUBG tournament is not only won by Chicken Dinner victories. Consistent scoring, aggressive play and 78 points from the eliminations allowed her to maintain her advantage even during the final day, when no match ended in victory.
GAM The Expendables remained in the fight for first place until the last matches, while Team Vitality had to settle for third place after a great start.
The Battle Royale tournament at the Beeline Arena brought three days of unpredictable results, frequent changes at the top of the table and a large number of different Chicken Dinner winners. In such a format, 17 Gaming was the most stable and efficient team.
Sources: Games of the future official site
