By Levi Wolf
The Esports World Cup (EWC) held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has one of the largest prize pools in competitive gaming. Last year’s prize pool alone was $71.5million (just over £50million).
To put that number into perspective, that is more than the $21million the Masters Golf tournament hands out, and in 2026 the number climbs even higher to $75million.
This year the tournament will run from July 6 to August 23.
What is the EWC?
In essence, the EWC is a massive, multi-game festival that runs from July to August every year in the Boulevard City of Riyadh.
A good comparison is the Olympics, a multitude of events spanning different disciplines but instead of swimming, archery or athletics, you have games like Counter Strike, Tekken, and Fortnite all running across different arenas.
The variety of the games is what makes it so unique, as most events are built around single games. For example, the Overwatch World Cup or Valorant Masters.
In these events teams and players can compete for the same title despite playing different games.
The EWC started in 2024 started from a smaller festival called Gamers8.
The event ran for two years and grew quickly until the Saudi government expanded it, ultimately rebranding it, and by 2024, the Esports World Cup was created with a historic prize pool of $62.5million.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Five F2 2026 stars to watch: Alex Dunne, Joshua Dürksen, Rafael Câmara and more
Why it’s worth watching
Even if you aren’t a fan of all the games featured, alongside the individual game tournaments, the EWC runs a Club Championship.
Every time an organization finishes inside the top eight, they earn points, and the club with the most points at the end is crowned Champion.
In practice, this means the largest organisations, Team Liquid, Team Falcons, and FNATIC, are racing through different games to get the best result simultaneously rather than just competing in one title.
The teams mentioned are similar to traditional sport clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona, which compete in multiple competitions and tournaments.
2025’s victors, Team Falcons, won the Club Championship for the second year running, finishing with 5200 points and taking home $7million — the top prize from the $27million Club Championship pot.
The fight went down to the wire, with Team Liquid pushing them till the final week.
How many people actually watch it?
A lot more people than would be assumed.
In 2025, 750 million people watched the EWC online, on top of the 3 million who watched in person, and for the League of Legends final, the viewership peaked at 7.98 million.
The crowd itself says it all — with last year’s event bringing Cristiano Ronaldo, Lando Norris, Tony Hawk, and Post Malone, alongside over 700 gaming creators and streamers, all of whom brought their own audiences to the event.
It isn’t just during the event that people watch, however, with replays and match reactions bringing in millions of viewers, alongside a dedicated section of the festival called the “Content Creator Park.”
A festival within a festival, which generated over 8 billion impressions alone, giving 700 creators a dedicated space to stream.
2026 is expected to bring a bigger and better crowd, including more guest appearances from celebrities like Alisha Lehmann, Kaká, and Roberto Carlos.
From Fortnite to chess, is there something for everyone?
The line-up this year has 24 titles, including some of the most popular games.
Fortnite returns this year after a year’s absence. Counter Strike 2, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Valorant are all also present.
EA Sports FC 26 is included for those who are football fans, and for those interested in racing, Trackmania is having a debut this year.
So even if you’ve only ever played one video game, there’s truly something for everyone.
The full line-up:
Shooters: Counter Strike 2, VALORANT, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Call of Duty: Warzone, Crossfire, Rainbow Six Siege X, Overwatch 2
Battle Royale: Fortnite, Apex Legends, Free Fire, PUBG Battlegrounds, PUBG Mobile
Strategy and MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena): League of Legends, Dota 2, Honor of Kings, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Teamfight Tactics
Fighting Games: Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Sports and Racing: EA Sports FC 26, Rocket League, Trackmania
Other: Chess.
For many the last game will be the most surprising to see.
After debuting in 2025, the EWC saw two of the most famous chess players competing against each other for rival teams — Magnus Carlsen, a man widely considered to be the greatest player of all time, competed for Team Liquid and won the title while his long-time rival Hikaru Nakamura played for Team Falcons but ultimately finished third.
Despite being a game invented 1,500 years ago, it had its rise during the COVID-19 pandemic and earned its spot at the tournament, where over 259,000 viewers watched simultaneously.
But why should anyone who is not a gamer care?
It’s a competition where you don’t need to understand every game or follow every discipline to find it enjoyable.
The variety, the Club Championship drama, and the rivalries that run across the seven weeks make it unlike anything else, and with $75million on the line, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
READ NEXT: F1 news: Lewis Hamilton reviews his F1 career in an emotional 20th anniversary Instagram post
Nicole Powell