Delta Force Invitational 2025: Who will win the $500,000 showdown?

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Since releasing earlier this year, Delta Force also launched on consoles in August and captured countless new fans across the world. Coming soon, the Delta Force Invitational 2025 is the first world championship tournament for the new tactical shooter, with some of the top rising-talents coming to Hangzhou, China, for the $500,000 event. Esports Charts takes a look over the attending teams, and who to watch out for. 

Delta Force is a free-to-play, first-person video game developed for both PC, console and mobile devices. The game’s free-to-play status and multi-platform releases have helped it appeal to all kinds of audience around the world; at the upcoming DFI 2025, teams across the world will compete for the total prize and the glory of being the first world champions of Delta Force esports. 

The DFI 2025 will be the game’s second global event, following on from its appearance at the Asian Champions League esports circuit earlier this year. Despite only releasing recently, Delta Force has a clear plan ahead for its esports circuits, and its organizers are keen to begin hosting tournaments and determine the world’s best teams and players. 

For the first DFI, teams qualified through various competitive regional qualifiers: Mainland China, North America, Europe and the Pan-Pacific region all saw two teams qualify each, whereas the Middle East, Latin America, Japan, and Korea, all sent their single best roster to the event. Some teams stand out from the pack, thanks to players’ previous esports experience which could make all the difference. 

Taking a preliminary look over some of the teams in attendance, China’s ESG stands out as a team to look out for. They were consistently dominant in their competitive regional, qualifying tournament, and they have some previous esports experience on their roster through 富江, who competed in regional Chinese Valorant tournaments and fell just shy of qualifying for the tier-two China National circuit in 2024. With the home turf advantage at the DFI 2025, ESG has a serious chance to run away with the title.

Mandelbrick Addiction and Fallen, both of Europe’s qualified teams, also look strong, with some useful experience on their rosters. Skiteyyy of MBA previously competed in various regional Rainbow Six Siege esports tournaments, and Fallen’s Flarich previously competed in Counter-Strike and Valorant: most famously with HellRaisers from 2019 to 2021 competing in the likes of the ESL Pro League. These two European rosters have the raw firepower and experience to make their mark at the DFI in China.

Japan’s FENNEL is also promising, and one of the few teams to have been picked up by an esports organization in the run-up to the Delta Force Invitational. Although their battle through the Japan Qualifier was hard-fought, they still clutched it out in the end, and with the confidence of FENNEL behind them, they’re ready to show their magic on stage yet again.

Moving past the top teams with some serious experience behind them, other teams seemed strong in their regional events, but not as composed or disciplined as our favorites. From the Americas, both INK and Team AKA qualified for the DFI, but while both teams had their highlights, some mistakes and close fights plagued them during qualifying. Similar to China’s Qing jiu Club, while promising, these teams still have to prove their worth in global events. 

Latin America’s Legit Brasil also appeared strong regionally, but still has to have their mettle properly tested by international competitors. While there is some esports experience among the players here, there isn’t enough to consider it a serious advantage for their team.

Finally, the outsiders of this year’s Delta Force Invitational 2025. Coming from regions traditionally not as strong or with smaller Delta Force audiences, these teams have something to prove to themselves and the wider Delta Force community at this year’s invitational. Of course, all of them will be aiming for as best a result as possible.

The upcoming Delta Force Invitational 2025 kicks off on September 19 at the Hangzhou Esports Center with $500,000 on the line. Not only will the event set the bar for Delta Force esports, but it will also point to some of the potential audiences for the tactical shooter; keep an eye on its viewership results for the DFI 2025 and which early audiences will tune into this esports event.