Esports words · Intermediate

One game's competition within a multi-game event, run under the event's general rules and that game's own rule book.

A yearly multi-game event run by the Esports World Cup Foundation, with competitions in more than 20 games and a Club Championship across them.

A world federation of national esports bodies that holds a World Esports Championship between national teams; the 2026 edition is in Indonesia.

The company that owns a game. Its terms apply in competition, and its bans on players can be honoured by event organisers.

An esports organisation that fields players or teams, often in several games.

The tournament managers, referees and game administrators who run the matches. Their in-match decisions are final.

The official at a match who handles pauses, technical problems and rulings during play.

An independent body whose codes on cheating, match-fixing and doping apply at many events; its bans are honoured.

The deadline, usually two to four weeks before a tournament, after which the registered players cannot be changed except in an emergency.

A registered player who can come in for a team member. In VALORANT a team may swap players between games of a match, telling an official within 5 minutes.

A team member in a supporting and advisory role. In PUBG a coach can come in as a player if registered to; in VALORANT only the coach may call a challenge.

The keyboard, mouse, mouse pad and in-ear headphones players bring themselves; the organisers provide computers, monitors and headsets. All are checked, and any that give an unfair advantage are refused.

The turn-by-turn process before a match in which teams ban and pick maps from the pool and choose starting sides. The higher seed chooses who goes first.

Ranking teams before a draw so the strongest do not meet early; the higher seed gets advantages such as the first choice in the veto.

A game update. A tournament fixes the patch version so every team plays the same game.

In PUBG, one point for each opponent a team eliminates in a match.

In PUBG, points for finishing position: 10 for first, 6 for second, then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 1 down to eighth, and none below.

Kill points plus placement points for one match; the totals across matches set the standings. Ties go to the team with more placement points, then to the most recent match.

The in-game waiting room where players gather before a match starts; players must join promptly once the referees give its details.

The set time before a match for players to check equipment, connect peripherals, test voice chat and warm up. Once players enter the match area they may not leave without permission.

A short tactical break a team calls during play: in VALORANT, two 60-second timeouts a map in regulation and one in overtime.

A pause for a hardware or software problem that stops a player playing, granted by the referee. Players may not move or talk to the coach during it.

A fault in the game. Some are played through; major or game-breaking bugs can lead to a round being replayed. Hiding a bug from the referee or using it on purpose is cheating.

Deliberately using a game fault or unintended trick for an advantage. It is banned, with penalties from a warning up to losing the match, judged on impact and intent.

Restoring the game to the start of the round after a bug, a crash or an exploit. In VALORANT officials roll back for a bug on their own only before any damage is dealt or for a game-breaking bug; otherwise only after a challenge.

Losing connection to the game. In PUBG a disconnection before everyone has landed restarts the match; after that, play goes on, and if ten or more players drop at once the match is replayed among those still alive.

Replaying a match or game because of server faults, power cuts or lag affecting several players, at the organisers' discretion.

A loss given without play, recorded at the minimum winning score (2-0 in a best of three, 13-0 on a VALORANT map). A team not ready 10 minutes after the start loses by no-show.

A sanction in which each point takes 1 per cent of the prize money the participant wins in that competition; the money goes to the other participants.

Money taken from a participant's winnings for breaches such as late jerseys, wrong clothing or missing media duties; it is not shared out.

Removal from the event for a severe breach; the participant forfeits all prize money from that competition and is banned to its end.

Using outside help or information during a match, such as messages from people not playing or watching the live stream (stream sniping). It counts as cheating.

Manipulating a result for reasons other than winning, such as losing on purpose for a bet: results voided, disqualification and a ban of usually 5 years. Bribing or pressuring others to change a result is competition manipulation.

Players, staff and club officials may not bet on any match of the event; betting against one's own team brings disqualification of the club and at least a one-year ban.

Using banned substances on the ESIC list, such as Adderall, without an exemption. Severe cases bring a one- to two-year ban and loss of results; refusing a test counts as doping.

A formal complaint. A match-related protest can be made by a player or coach during the match or within 72 hours; a general protest by the club covers other matters. More than three failed protests in a season can bring a fine.