In Season 57, more than 10% of ESEA rosters filled a missing spot through Team Finder. Season 58 builds on that with Player Finder, the other half of recruitment. Until now, captains posted their teams and players applied. Now players can also post themselves as LFT (Looking For Teams) and let captains come to them, to give players more chances of getting picked up. Alongside this new feature, Season 58 introduces ID Verification in Main, replaces server location vetoes with a preference-based system, and, in EU, runs a one-time ECL Play-in into ECL Finals. Registration closes July 9, and the season's first matches begin July 13. Before we get into Season 58, here is how Season 57 finishes.
The Season 57 Season Finals decide the NA/EU champions and, in EU, the first teams to enter the new ECL Playin. HLTV aims to cover the quarterfinals onward for both the EU and NA Season Finals. Community co-streamers will carry the matches with 150,000 FACEIT Points available through drops: NA: floofys with ParksCasts, bonamant. EU: dutchboycasts, prawnytv, peluso33.
Team Finder lets captains post their team and players apply. Player Finder is the other half of that loop: by posting themselves as LFT (looking for team) on FACEIT, players become visible to captains browsing the Player Finder directory to complete their rosters.
These two tools are built to work together, so use both at once: stay visible to captains in the Player Finder directory while you browse and apply to rosters yourself.
Post yourself as LFT and apply to several teams at the same time to give yourself more chances of getting picked up.
ID verification makes ban evasion and multi-accounting harder, which helps protect the integrity of League matches. It was already required in Advanced and in Season Finals, and this season, we are expanding it to Main in NA and EU. The expansion comes with website changes that make it clear when a team member still needs to verify and what to do about it.
Verify your identity here.
In Europe, the unranked Open 1-8 group is being split by FACEIT level into two: Open 1-4 and Open 5-8. A single group spanning levels 1 to 8 puts lower-level teams up against much higher-level teams. Splitting it places you with teams at a closer level from the start.
After launching in Europe in Season 57, the exact same grouping system is arriving in NA for Season 58. In large groups, top rosters frequently matched against much lower-level teams, creating wide Elo gaps during the regular season. Any VRS ranked group from Open to Advanced with more than 127 teams is now split into sub-groups, sized by team count:
Teams are distributed across sub-groups using a snake-style seeding order, and each sub-group runs its own playoff bracket, which increases the number of teams advancing from the regular season. This matches you against teams at your skill level earlier in the season.
Group Playoffs: Each sub-group now has its own playoff bracket, replacing the old Bracket A and B system. This new structure increases the number of teams advancing from the regular season. Season Finals: Qualification for the Season Finals is determined by the number of sub-groups in a given group:
VRS Compliance: NA region remains fully compliant with VRS guidelines. Read more about the grouping changes here.
A knowledge base article with the changes on East and West conference follows in early July.
Server location is moving away from vetoes. Instead, captains rank their team's server locations from best to worst, and for every match the system uses both teams' rankings to settle on the fairest shared location. Server preference is available in every region except ZA and OCE. Everywhere else, the locations you can rank depend on your region and conference. Your ranking applies to all your matches that season, and you can update it any time, though changes only take effect for matches that have not been generated yet. This change does three things:
Server preference will be available closer to the start of Season 58.
In 2026, and in Europe only, Seasons 57 and 58 connect directly to the new ESL Challenger League (ECL) format through the ECL Play-in.
The top two teams from each of the Season 57 and Season 58 Season Finals qualify for the ECL Play-in, four teams in total, and the best two from the ECL Play-in advance to the ECL Finals. That is the route from ESEA League into ESL Challenger League and, from there, the ESL Pro League. In every other region, the path to ECL stays the same.
From 2027, the top EU team from each ESEA season's Finals qualifies directly for the ECL Finals.
Creators, streamers, and community leaders: invite players to ESEA League with your own unique 10% discount link to earn prizes. Manage it all through the FACEIT Creators Dashboard, where you can get your referral link, track sign-ups, and monitor your prize progress.
š Referral Prizes (starts June 25) Earn Creator Points for each referral you make, and first-time and reactivating referrals are worth more. Redeem your points in the Creator Shop for the prizes you want. Points stay in your balance until you redeem them, so you can save up across multiple seasons.
š Creator Shop (new) Redeem your Creator Points for prizes directly in the new Creator Shop:
š Battle Pass Rewards Earn up to 420,000 FACEIT Points by leveling up. Special bonus: $250 cash for 100 or more first-time referrals. Join the FACEIT Creator Program to get your referral link
A few more improvements land this season:
Thank you for reading. Registration for Season 58 closes July 9, so lock in your roster, or use Player Finder and Team Finder to build one.
The ESEA League Team
