2025-12-22
Esports Press Release 2026
2026 COMPETITIVE ROADMAP
HELSINKI, FINLAND, MONDAY, 22nd of December, 2025 - The Critical Ops Esports team has released their Competitive Roadmap for 2026!
This year, Critical Force increases the amount of official tournaments throughout the year, once again partnering with Polaris and introducing COM as a new organiser.
Polaris will host four events this year - starting with the Obsidian League in January. Teams battle in a Best of 2 league, with the highest ranking teams qualifying for the playoffs for a chance to win prizes. The three Obsidian Leagues will pave the way for the Critical Ops Odyssey Championship, the amalgamation of each team’s progress throughout the tournaments this year.
COM provides a foundational focus for teams and players individually, hosting Critical Ops Community Matchmaking - an individual leaderboard-based league where players play amongst and against each other - and Origin Scrim League - a team-based leaderboard tournament.
As has been consistent throughout the last few years, Critical Ops Rumble is back! This 3v3 friendly event aims to serve as a breather during the competitive Esports year, as well as a chance to find new teammates.
All Star hosts their own community events throughout the year, ensuring an action-packed 2026.
This year’s focus shifts to hardening Critical Ops’ foundations via events throughout the year, and increasing production levels in the form of consistent live-streams for said events.
ABOUT CRITICAL OPS
Critical Ops is a competitive tactical shooter for mobile devices. Two teams battle it out in a 5v5 defuse game mode using teamwork, tactics, and skills to outplay the opposition. With a growing competitive scene, Critical Ops is one of the early pioneers in mobile eSports. Available for free on the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore, the game has been downloaded more than 100 million times.
ABOUT POLARIS
Polaris is a pioneering esports organization committed to delivering world-class mobile gaming tournaments and events. Founded in 2017 by community veteran Anony, Polaris has earned its reputation by hosting over 700 competitive events—from major championships and seasonal leagues to scrimmages and weekly contests—across multiple mobile titles. As the official organizer of the Critical Ops Rumble tournament series, Polaris partners closely with game developers to maintain the highest standards of competitive integrity. Polaris continues to innovate and inspire a global community of mobile gamers.
ABOUT COM
COM (Community Matchmaking) provides Critical Ops players with a protected environment that offers expert competitive gaming services to players. Bitten and Gxmil established COM in 2020, which evolved into a leading competitive gaming platform that now operates as a trusted scene ecosystem through its 25+ seasons across five years and its support of organized matches in various regions. Bitten and Nercly now lead COM, which promotes competitive integrity through its state-of-the-art security systems, verification protocols, and anti-abuse measures that maintain complete transparency throughout all game activities.
More specific plans of the roadmap can be found in the team’s Reddit Post