V for Victory: Team Vitality Wins IEM Kraków

It could have been the fast and the FURIA, as the Brazilian team, renowned for their driving, aggressive play entered the Intel Extreme Masters Counter-Strike 2 final atop the global rankings, with over $USD 2.5 million in prize money across CS2 tournaments. France’s Team Vitality are no underdogs, however; crowned 2025 Esports Team of the Year, their tournament haul stands at over $USD 8 million. On 8 February, the Tauron arena in Kraków, Poland, hosted this clash of titans in front of 22,000 fans, and after five intense hours of play, Team Vitality emerged as champions, with Mathieu “⁠ZywOo⁠” Herbaut as IEM 2026 MVP.

This tournament didn’t disappoint! Kraków 2026 hit a new IEM high for a non-major, with 1.47 million peak views, and 40 million hours watched. As usual, fans on the ground flocked to the Intel booth to play exclusive previews and legendary franchises. A shout-out to our amazing partners who brought the goods to IEM Kraków, and kept the crowds buzzing between arena battles.

Level the field with Battlefield 6

Developer Battlefield Studios and publisher EA brought the big guns, and the big tanks, the heavy artillery, the fighter jets… Battlefield 6 is not only the best-selling shooter of 2025, it’s also the eighteenth release in the Battlefield series. Attendees could take a break from white-knuckle CS2 action to relax with some all-out war in this single- or multi-player military action first-person shooter. You can do it at home.

Buy Battlefield 6 on Steam

Catch the Everwind

Everybody loves a sneak preview, and IEM Krakow hosted a few. Bohemia Interactive lifted the veil (should that be sail?) on their extraordinary flying island/ship adventure. Everwind is soon to be released in Early Access, and IEM attendees were able to sample life in the clouds where they pilot their ship, gather resources, craft, loot, and fight, while uncovering the game’s backstory. You too can reach for the skies; as Bohemia says, “Everwind is something we want to make not for the players, but with the players.”

Liste de souhaits Everwind on Steam

Take the wheel with F1 25

The racing sims setups were a big draw at the booth, so may we suggest the official video game of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship? F1 25 from developer Codemasters and publisher EA Sports features all the drivers and tracks from the real-life races, as well as the option to create your own driver, and position yourself in the middle of racing history. Get on the grid at Steam.

Buy F1 25 on Steam

 Beast in the Booth—Dying Light : La Bête

 Heart rate still not high enough? Techland amped up the adrenaline with the latest episode in the Dying Light series. Gamers plunge into a first-person survival horror adventure, where the true horror is the monster within. Kyle Crane has endured 13 years of torture, and is out for revenge, but the zombie DNA that gives him strength and speed also threatens to overwhelm his humanity. Will he make it through the night? Find out for yourself.

Buy Dying Light : La Bête on Steam

 Into the Light—Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

 Obscure is the last word we can use to describe Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, after 2025’s haul of awards—including game of the year at The Game Awards, Best Storytelling at the Golden Joystick Awards, and Best Narrative at the TIGA awards. It’s time for you to experience this groundbreaking turn-based RPG adventure in which a luminous fantasy world turns deadly.

Buy Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on Steam

 The Unrivaled Marvel Rivals

 What better game to bring to a tournament packed with rival fans than one stuffed with enough heroes and villains to suit all tastes? And there’s no need to miss out on the thrill of pitting favourites against one another now that IEM Kraków is over. Published by NetEase Games in collaboration with Marvel Games, Marvel Rivals is free to play online. If your favourite character isn’t on the bench yet, fear not: each seasonal update brings new superheroes to the battlefield.

Play Marvel Rivals on Steam Deck

 Early Bird Special—Cooking Simulator 2: Better Together

Lucky visitors to IEM Kraków were served a sneak preview of the sequel to the smash hit Cooking Simulator. Developers Big Cheese Studio take their winning recipe and add choice new ingredients: the former single-player-only game now has a co-op option, so if you’re struggling to get dinner on the table by yourself, you can call in reinforcements. Then again, if you’d rather just let off steam, why not try the “creative chaos” option, and see how many different ways you can set your kitchen on fire? 

Liste de souhaits Cooking Simulator 2: Better Together on Steam

 Back to Life: Valor Mortis

Local developers One More Level, the creators of Ghostrunner, chilled attendees to the marrow with a preview of this first-person action soulslike. The Krakow-based devs didn’t travel far, but the game takes you back to an alternative Napoleonic Europe, where ceaseless war has unleashed a supernatural plague. You play as a soldier risen from the dead, whose veins now run with the corrupting power of the plague.

Liste de souhaits Valor Mortis on Steam

 Heroes Rise: SunderBound

A final look ahead to close our look back at IEM Kraków. This 2026 release is a two-player co-op, top-down shooter with roguelite progression and a raggedly stylish dieselpunk aesthetic. Whether you’re side by side IRL in a couch co-op, paired up remotely online, or playing solo with an AI running-mate, victory depends utterly on teamwork. You are stranded in a broken underground dystopia, and the only way to reach the outside world is to climb out shooting, floor by floor. But the higher you go, the harder it is to stay alive…

Liste de souhaits SunderBound on Steam

That’s it from us, for now. Next up in 2026, IEM Rio. See you in the Marvelous City, or here at Intel Gaming Access.