Esports World Cup Foundation announces Esports Nations Cup

31 August 2025

The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has announced the launch of the Esports Nations Cup (ENC), a tournament that will gather the best eSports players in the world next year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The new competition, that will be held for the first time in 2026, will introduce national pride to the global eSports stage in a recurrent format as it is the first event of its kind at this scale.

“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” said Ralf Reichter, CEO of the EWCF.

The first-ever edition will feature national teams from all major regions, competing in both team-based and solo-players formats. A multi-layered qualification model will balance competitiveness and inclusivity: combining global rankings, regional qualifiers and wildcard entries, including solidarity placements, to ensure a broad and representative competitive stage in every game. All players will receive guaranteed prize money, with equal placement rewards across all games, ensuring fairness for players. The competition will be hosted every two years, providing a dependable structure for players, coaches and eSports organizations. After its debuts in Riyadh, it will move to a rotating host model, bringing national eSports teams to fans worldwide.

The inaugural edition will be co-developed with the publishers and video games companies – Electronic Arts, Krafton, Tencent and Ubisoft, which will bring the scale and insight essential to building a global competition for national teams that reflects the value and integrity of each game.