Thirteen World Championship appearances, one of the most historical League of Legends brand. And yet, in 2026, Fnatic find themselves rebuilding, underperforming, and under fire from a fanbase that feels the LoL section has been deprioritised. RFT.GG sat down with CEO Sam Mathews at the Arènes in Évry-Courcouronnes for a candid conversation about where things stand, what changed, a potential academy team and why leaving League is simply not on the table.
How do you view the evolution of the League of Legends team from a sporting perspective?
It's been a challenging year, for sure. We're going through a bit of a rebuild, trying to find the core pillars of the team to work with and build around. In League of Legends, there's been a lot more competition — KC, MKOI, a lot more teams coming up. More professional outfits, more money coming from different pockets that weren't existing before. And you've also got ecosystems like VALORANT and CS which are really big as well. So there's a lot going on.
