Cloud9 and JetBrains launch esports hackathon event

North American esports organisation Cloud9 and software development tool creator JetBrains have joined forces to launch an esports hackathon event.

Using League of Legends and VALORANT data from GRID, the official esports data partner of the VALORANT Champions Tour and LoL Esports, participants can pick one of four categories to create tools to ‘push competitive gaming forward.’

Categories range from creating an assistant coach to developing a minigame that fans can play as part of Cloud9 or JetBrains event activations. In addition to the main prizes, participants can earn awards for the best video submission, most valuable JetBrains software or Junie feedback, and the best written blog post.

The winners of the four main categories win a variety of items, including an all-expenses-paid trip to the Game Developer Conference (GDC), a one-year JetBrains subscription, and at least $4,000 (~£3,004) in cash.

The four categories are:

“Esports is evolving quickly, and the tools used behind the scenes have a real impact on team performance, player improvement, and fan engagement,” said JetBrains in a blog post.

“We want to see what you build! Some of the most innovative ideas in esports analytics and the fan experience come from passionate and curious coders.”

Registrations for the Sky’s The Limit hackathon opened on December 9th, 2025. The submission deadline for any projects is February 3rd, 2026. Between February 10th and 24th, judges will review the submissions, with the winners revealed in early March.

JetBrains made its first foray into the esports industry in late October this year through a partnership with Cloud9.

The launch of the hackathon is one of several ways the tool creator is supporting the organisation. In addition to the event, the two parties have joined forces for a content series demonstrating how AI-powered tools are contributing to the operations of its esports rosters.