Philippine Kings League Spring 2026 Expands to 10 Teams with New Format
The Philippine Kings League (PKL) Spring 2026 Season officially begins with an expanded 10-team lineup and a revamped competitive format for Honor of Kings esports in the Philippines.
Branded with the tagline “Patunayan mo kung sino ka,” the new season increases the number of participating teams from eight to ten and implements structural changes across the Regular Season and Playoffs.
Teams Competing in Spring 2026
PKL Spring 2026 features six partner teams and four squads that qualified through the Open Series.
The partner teams this season are Blacklist International, BOOM Esports, Team Flash PH, TNT Tropang Alab, WETRND Esports, and JGame Esports, formerly known as Barcode. Joining them from the open qualifiers are Finesse Esports, Archives., Team Nemesis PH, and Rough World Era.
Blacklist and BOOM had been staples of the world stage, while WETRND and the newly-named JGame want to renew their momentum heading into this season. TNT and Team Flash meanwhile aims to improve their standing into the competition and barge to the bigger stages.
Rough World Era returns to the fold after barely missing out last season, while it is the first time for the remaining three teams. Finesse will make a comeback to the top of the esports scene, Team Nemesis finally making it to the PKL, and Archives becoming the second HOK team under the watch of Naser “Dogie” Mollazehi.
The first match of the season features Blacklist International facing off against Team Flash PH to open Week 1.
10-Team League Format
The Regular Season follows a single round-robin format, with each team facing every other team in best-of-five (BO5) matches for a total of 45 series. Unlike the past series, the winner of each series will get a single point, with the losing team getting none.
At the end of the Regular Stage, the top two teams will advance directly to the Playoffs. Teams ranked third to sixth will move on to the Play-Ins, while the bottom four teams will be eliminated from the competition. Tiebreakers will be based on the net games won.
Play-Ins and Playoffs Structure
Both the Play-Ins and Playoffs will be played in a best-of-seven (BO7) format, allowing for potential Ultimate Battles. The Play-Ins will determine two additional teams advancing to the Playoffs. The Playoffs will use a double-elimination bracket and are scheduled for March 27–29.
The champion of PKL Spring 2026 will represent the Philippines at the Honor of Kings World Cup 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this July.
Matches will be streamed live on Honor of Kings Philippines’ official YouTube channel, HOK Philippines Esports on Facebook, and HOK PH Esports on TikTok.