VBL Grand Final by bevestor: Dylan “DullenMIKE” Neuhausen is tenth German Champion

5 June 2022 – Dylan “DullenMIKE” Neuhausen is the 2022 German eFootball Champion. The 19-year-old player impressed at the VBL Grand Final this weekend and secured the championship trophy of the bevestor Virtual Bundesliga (VBL), as well as 40,000 euros in prize money. In the final of this tenth season of the bevestor Virtual Bundesliga organised by the DFL, ESL and EA SPORTS, Neuhausen beat Umut “RBLZ_Umut” Gültekin with a total score of 5:0 over the two-legged final (1:0 on Xbox Series X/S and 4:0 on PlayStation 5). All matches were played using EA SPORTS FIFA 22.

“I am speechless, feel a huge relief. I really wanted to become German champion once and have finally done it. Next year I hope I can repeat this success”, said Neuhausen following his victory on Sunday evening. He had qualified for the VBL Grand Final via the VBL Open by bevestor and the subsequent playoffs.

Andreas Heyden, EVP Digital Innovations DFL Group: ‘”On behalf of the DFL, congratulations to Dylan Neuhausen on his success in the VBL anniversary season. The quality of performance has risen continuously over the past years – therefore, to win this individual players’ title is a great achievement! To witness the VBL Grand Final, finally again with players and spectators in the hall, was the perfect end to a successful season. A special thanks to all the active players, the clubs and the partners of the Virtual Bundesliga, especially bevestor, EA SPORTS and ESL Gaming.”

In the VBL Grand Final, 32 players met in an offline tournament in Cologne, having qualified via the VBL Club Championship by bevestor and the play-offs of the VBL Open. In total, the prize pool for the VBL Grand Final was €100,000.

About the Virtual Bundesliga

The VBL, which was founded in 2012 as a partnership between DFL and EA SPORTS, remains to this day the only eFootball competition of a professional football league to be directly integrated in the EA SPORTS FIFA game series. The VBL has enjoyed a continuous growth in popularity since its launch. In 2018, the decision to launch the VBL Club Championship with the clubs of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, in addition to the VBL Open competition for individual players, was taken in response to the increasing popularity of the VBL, the growing relevance of eSports in general and the DFL’s focus on football simulation games. The DFL has also been cooperating with ESL Gaming, the world’s largest eSport company, since 2020. With its expertise in building up and expanding ecosystems in conjunction with digital sport, the DFL would like to further develop and professionalise the VBL.