HLTV Awards 2026 announced, Dust2 creator revealed as first announcer
HLTV revealed preliminary details for the 2026 edition of the HLTV Awards in Belgrade, Serbia. Notably, the first announcer revealed was David Johnston, the creator of Dust2.
Johnston will attend the HLTV Awards in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Dust2's release.
Alongside the announcement of Johnston as the first announcer, HLTV also revealed the awards that will be handed out at the show such as: Player of the Year, Women's Player of the Year, and Team of the Year.
The Community Awards, which are voted on by HLTV users, will now be a part of the main show, compared to their previous pre-show placement. The awards on offer there are the year's best Talent, Streamer, Creator, Event, and Skin.
There is a new Lifetime Achievement Award that will be given to "a person that left a significant mark on Counter-Strike."
Here are all the categories at the HLTV Awards 2026:
HLTV Awards
• Player of the year presented by 1xBet
• Women's Player of the year presented by 1xBet
• Team of the year presented by 1xBet
• Women's team of the year presented by 1xBet
• Rookie of the year presented by TBD
Panel Awards
• IGL of the year presented by 1xBet
• AWPer of the year presented by 1xBet
• Anchor of the year presented by 1xBet
• Closer of the year presented by 1xBet
• Opener of the year presented by 1xBet
• Coach of the year presented by 1xBet
• Highlight of the year presented by 1xBet
Community Awards
• Talent of the year presented by 1xBet
• Streamer of the year presented by 1xBet
• Creator of the year presented by 1xBet
• Event of the year presented by 1xBet
• Skin of the year presented by Skin.Club
Hall of Fame presented by 1xBet
Lifetime Achievement presented by 1xBet
