The third edition of the Norwich Games Festival SWOS Championships took place at The Forum in Norwich as part of the week-long festival celebrating video games, board games, and the wider games industry.

Theologistic and SensibleDrinker returned to co-host the event and arrived early to set up what was undoubtedly the biggest cup competition taking place that day. (We’ll get to Arsenal vs PSG later.)

As in previous years, the tournament attracted a strong mix of offline community players, local competitors and dedicated SWOS fans. The field featured some familiar faces, including XFlea and SemperFi, who travelled from Poland, Dior from up north, Lobo and RaabDJ from London, and Wugbaspin from Buckinghamshire. Even without the presence of Jon Hare this year, the standard remained exceptionally high.

The format consisted of two groups of four, with each player facing every other player three times before progressing to the knockout stages. First-time Norwich visitor Wugbaspin was given the honour of conducting the draw, and the action soon got underway.

Group Stage

Group A developed fairly predictably, with Lobo topping the table after scoring an impressive 40 goals across his nine matches. However, he did suffer a rare setback in the final group game, losing 3-2 to Theologistic.

Group B proved considerably tighter. XFlea edged out both SemperFi and Wugbaspin to secure top spot, with second and third place ultimately separated by a single goal. A special mention must go to RaabDJ, whose performances earned praise from every competitor. His standout match saw him storm into a 3-0 lead against XFlea, only for the Polish star to mount a dramatic comeback and rescue a 3-3 draw.

Following a brief refreshment break, during which SemperFi invested in a particularly questionable pair of screen-projecting sunglasses, attention turned to the knockout rounds.

Quarter-Finals (Two Legs)

• Theologistic defeated Wugbaspin 5-2 on aggregate.
• XFlea took full advantage of SensibleDrinker being well into his bottle of gin, recording a convincing 9-1 victory.
• SemperFi impressed with a 5-1 win over Dior.
• Lobo completed the semi-final line-up by overcoming a valiant RaabDJ 8-2.

Semi-Finals (Two Legs)

Lobo continued his relentless march towards the title, dispatching SemperFi 9-3 on aggregate.

The other semi-final produced one of the comebacks of the tournament. After trailing 3-2 following the first leg, Theologistic delivered a superb 5-0 second-leg performance against XFlea to book his place in the final.

Final

The final proved one challenge too far for the co-host. Lobo was in scintillating form and demonstrated once again why the former world champion remains recognised as one of the finest SWOS players in the world.

Victories of 5-0 and 1-0 gave him a commanding 6-0 aggregate triumph and secured his third consecutive Norwich Games Festival SWOS Championship title.

Post-Match

Following the medal presentation and photographs for the festival press, the competitors made their way to Norwich’s famous pub, The Murderers, to watch the Champions League Final.

A huge thank you goes to everyone who attended, whether they battled through the unpredictability of the British rail network or flew in from Poland to take part. Your support and enthusiasm continue to make this one of the highlights of the SWOS calendar.

Norwich will always welcome you back. Here’s hoping to see many familiar faces again next year.

Watch this space…

🏆 Norwich Games Festival SWOS Championships 2026 Champion: Lobo
🥈 Runner-up: Theologistic
🥉 3rd Place: XFlea