The inaugural 2025 UKI Awards celebrated the Counter-Strike 2 grassroots scene, unveiling the winners of 10 prestigious categories.
Hosted in front of a live audience at the University of Staffordshire, the event highlighted the UK and Ireland’s excellent esports talent.
Extinct named Player of the Year at UKI Awards
Extinct was named as Player of the Year at the show and expressed his gratitude on social media.
He tweeted: “Appreciate being named Player of the Year by @UKIAwards, thanks to everyone that has been apart of the events I played last year. I give all the credit to them, they are the true GOATS, and thanks to anyone who voted for me.”
Extinct picked up the MVP at EPIC.LAN 43 and won the finals for ALASKA with his performance on map three at EPIC.LAN 44. ALASKA would go on to take the team of the year award.
The awards were organized by caster and esports student Leyna “Affinity” McQuillin. Nominations and voting were managed by a panel selected by Affinity, who announced the winners during the ceremony, which was also streamed live on Twitch.
Tom “arTisT” Clarke emerged as a major winner, securing both IGL (In-Game Leader) of the Year and AWPer (Arctic Warfare Police) of the Year awards for his exceptional leadership and sharpshooting.
Other winners included Joshua “Dweg” Nathan for Talent of the Year, Harry “Index” Bayliss for Breakout Talent of the Year, Ashley Battye for Creator of the Year with “Ash’s Playbook,” Ciaran “Biscu” King for Coach of the Year, Remi “DIVIII” Alexandre for Import of the Year, and Lucian “DEVI” Manolache for Breakout Player of the Year.
The UKI Awards were designed to celebrate active players competing in grassroots events such as EPIC.LAN and UKIC. Nominations were based on performances over the past year. Events like EPIC.LAN 44 and UKIC Season 5 factored into the voting process.
Below are the full list of winners as per the UKCSGO,who named the winners live during the show. The full list of nominees for each award is available on the UKCSGO website.
Full List of winners at 2025 UKI Awards
Player of the Year – ExtinctCS2
Team of the Year – Alaska
Talent of the Year – Dweg
Breakout Talent of the Year – Index
Creator of the Year – Ash’s Playbook
Coach of the Year – Biscu
Import of the Year – DIVIII
Breakout Player of the Year – DEVI
IGL of the Year – Artist
AWPER of the Year – Artist
