Esports Nations Cup to debut in Riyadh in 2026

The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF), the tournament organizer behind the Esports World Cup, has announced the Esports Nations Cup (ENC), a new competition made specifically for national teams.

Esports Nations Cup will be hosted every two years

The tournament’s first edition is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, next November. Co-developed with game publishers such as Electronic Arts (EA), Krafton, Tencent, and Ubisoft, the event was confirmed at the New Global Sports Conference, which happened during the final week of the 2025 Esports World Cup. It’s worth noting that Riot Games, the developers behind League of Legends and VALORANT, were not included in the announcement (although they are a Tencent-owned company).

In the announcement, the EWCF has stated that each publisher stakeholder “will help shape their game’s national ranking systems, qualification pathways, and event formats, ensuring the ENC resonates with their fans and meets the highest standards of competition.”

The Esports Nations Cup is expected to feature national teams from regions and countries across the world, including North America, South America, Europe, MENA, Africa, Asia, and SEA & Oceania. Competitions will be both in team-based and solo-player formats, with qualification models developed by stakeholders to ensure “competitiveness and inclusivity”. The qualification model will include global rankings, regional qualifiers, and Wildcard entries, and “solidarity placements.”

Is the Esports Nations Cup the pilot project for the Olympic Esports Games?

Even though they are considered to be separate, it’s hard not to imagine how the ENC could be the way to test out how the nations vs. nations competitions would work ahead of the Esports Olympic Games, especially considering how Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in the esports space over the past few years as part of the country’s “Vision 2030” strategy. Gamers8, which took place in 2023, was also, to a certain extent, a rehearsal for the Esports World Cup.

Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, commented on the announcement: “Nation versus nation competition is the ultimate expression of sport. The ENC makes this a reality for esports, giving every fan a flag to rally behind and every player the pride of representing their country. It’s a stage to create heroes, inspire the next generation, and, together with our partners and stakeholders, build the national ecosystems that will accelerate the growth of esports worldwide.”

While the Saudi’s involvement in the industry has helped teams in a period of financial distress, thanks to their incentive programs and massive prize pools across the EWC tournaments, members of the esports community have criticized the government’s involvement for their attempt at “sports washing”, using forms of sport and entertainment to cover up its record on human rights.