The esports world is set for a major shift after the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 was officially announced to take place in Paris, France, marking the first time the global tournament will be held outside Riyadh since its inception.The announcement was made by the Esports Foundation on May 20, with the tournament scheduled to run from July 6 to August 23, 2026. It will also become the first edition of the EWC to be hosted outside Saudi Arabia.
According to reports, the decision to relocate the tournament to Paris came after a lengthy evaluation process amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East over recent months. Organizers reportedly wanted to proviide early certainty for teams, players, sponsor&international broadcasting partners.Esports Foundation CEO Ralf Reichert stated that Riyadh still played a crucial role in building the EWC brand into a global phenomenon, but Paris was ultimately selected due to its reputation as one of the world’s leading hubs for sports and entertainment.
The selection of Paris is also seen as a strategic move to expand the Esports World Cup influence into the European market while strengthening esports image as a major international sporting event comparable to traditional global tournaments.French President Emmanuel Macron was also reported to have welcomed the organizing delegation at the Élysée Palace as a symbol of France support for the global esports industry.
EWC 2026 is expected to become the biggest edition yet, featuring a prize pool exceeding USD75 million with more than 2000 professional players and approximately 200 esports organizations from around the world set to compete.Despite the official announcement, several esports databases and international wiki platforms have yet to update the tournament location and still list Riyadh as the original host city for the 2026 edition.
The Esports World Cup is widely regarded as one of the largest esports tournaments in the world in terms of total prize money and number of game titles featured, including popular titles such as CounterStrike 2, Dota 2, League of Legends, VALORANT and Mobile Legends Bang Bang.
