This summer’s Esports World Cup will be held in Paris, France, rather than its originally scheduled location of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, due to the war in the Middle East, GamesBeat reports. According to the site, EWC organizers are telling stakeholders behind the scenes that the tournament will be moved to Paris this year, though there’s been no public confirmation of the change. Rumors of a location swap have been swirling for days.
The 2026 EWC is scheduled to kick off in July and run through August, with a total prize pool of more than $75 million. It covers major titles including Valorant, League of Legends, Dota 2, Street Fighter 6, Overwatch, Rocket League, Trackmania, Counter-Strike 2, Call of Duty and Fortnite. The 2025 edition in Riyadh attracted more than 3 million fans to the city, plus over 2,500 esports players and support staff.
The tournament’s reported move to Paris comes during a period of renewed chaos in the Middle East, as the United States and Israel perpetuate their war with Iran. With active bombing campaigns and the looming threat of a catastrophic attack, many airlines are cancelling flights to the region, while locals are living with rage, fear and insecurity.
The inaugural EWC was held in Riyadh in 2024 and organized by a non-profit arm of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which oversees numerous groups investing heavily in sports, video games and entertainment interests worldwide. Multiple governing bodies and human rights watchdogs have accused Saudi Arabia of sportswashing, i.e. attempting to use these investments to improve the nation’s reputation as its leaders stand accused of extreme, ongoing human rights abuses.
The EWC stayed in Riyadh in 2025 and was a success, despite growing dissent among participants and viewers. The developers of GeoGuessr cancelled their participation in EWC 2025 after a large group of map creators pulled their work from the game, calling the tournament a sportswashing tool. Street Fighter 6 player Christopher Hancock, ChrisCCH, refused to participate in EWC 2025 despite qualifying. Riot Games, the maker of massive esports titles including League of Legends and Valorant, had to justify its participation to disappointed fans yet again, as did Caedrel, LoL‘s most popular streaming personality. With high-value payouts on the line, plenty of teams and players feel they can’t afford to miss the EWC (which is exactly how sportswashing operates, to be clear).
It was always part of the plan for the EWC to be hosted in cities outside of Riyadh, with hefty hosting fees attached, but the details of this year’s Paris situation are unclear. We’ve contacted the EWC for clarification on the reported move.
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