The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) announced today that it has secured new publishing partners for the upcoming Esports Nations Cup, a tournament featuring each country’s best esports players. Chess.com, Moonton Games and SNK join as official publishers, alongside founding publishers Krafton, Electronic Arts, Tencent and Ubisoft. Each company brings their games to the upcoming event.
All of the publishing partners, including the three new additions, will help design qualification paths and competition formats for their games. The founding publishers will also participate in the creation of the tournament’s structure. The Nations Cup will feature teams from every major region playing in both team matches and solo formats. The EWCF plans to announce more about the Nations Cup in the coming years.
The Esports Nations Cup is scheduled to begin in November 2026 in Riyadh, with future events moving on a rotating host schedule every two years. It’s intended to complement the Esports World Cup, the EWCF’s largest event, by offering a “new layer of global competition” and offering incentive for esports organizations to invest in national teams. It will feature a qualification model that represents a broad stage for every game.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of the EWCF, said in a statement, “By partnering closely with publishers, we can make the Esports Nations Cup truly player-centric, and give players the opportunity to represent their country in the games that define their careers. With the seven partners announced so far as close collaborators, we can activate players worldwide and deliver a Nations Cup that feels earned for players and real for fans, and build a stage that national teams can aspire to for years to come.”