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RIYADH: Registration has opened for the ESL Saudi Challenge, the premier Overwatch 2 tournament in the Kingdom.

Teams will battle for a share of the $20,000 prize pool and a critical step toward securing a spot on an international stage. The season will culminate in a live showdown in December.

The ESL Saudi Challenge is a landmark event for ��������n esports, featuring high-stakes Overwatch 2 competition and offering local players an opportunity to shine globally. The tournament will again be hosted on the FACEIT platform, with the playoffs live streamed and the finals taking place live from VOV Gaming.

For Saudi gamers, it is a key chance to improve their skills, represent the Kingdom in international competition — including the Overwatch 2 FACEIT League Season 2 EMEA Expert — and further solidify ��������’s growing influence in the world of esports.

For Season 2, the level of competition intensifies. The top three teams from Season 1: Twisted Minds, Al Qadsiah, and Team Vision have been directly invited to the playoff stage to test their might against the best of the qualifiers.

Qualifier 1 takes place on Oct. 17-18, with Qualifier 2 on Oct. 24-25. The playoffs then take place on Nov. 5, 6, 11 and 12.

The playoffs will be live streamed on official channels, as will the final, which is in Riyadh on Dec. 5.

RIYADH: The New Global Sport Conference 2025, held alongside the closing weekend of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, finished Monday with a series of announcements and partnerships aimed at shaping the future of gaming and electronic sports.

The event, organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation, brought together more than 1,500 delegates, including 500 CEOs from the gaming, sports, technology and investment sectors.

Senior Saudi officials, including Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal and Saudi Esports Federation Chairman Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, outlined the Kingdom’s ambitions to make gaming and e-sports a driver of future economic growth.

A key announcement was the launch of the Esports Nations Cup, the first international competition where national teams will represent their countries.

The inaugural edition is scheduled for November 2026. Ubisoft’s Francois-Xavier Deniele said: “There is something different with nations, this sentiment of pride that continues to grow around the world.”

Hans Jagnow, director of NGSC 2025, said the scale of collaboration marked a turning point for the industry.

“NGSC 2025 has solidified its role as the platform where the future of our industries is shaped,” he said. “The outcomes of this year’s conference will set the direction of our industry and drive the growth and transformation of gaming and e-sports worldwide.”

Ubisoft also unveiled a partnership with �������� to recreate AlUla, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as free playable content in “Assassin’s Creed Mirage.”

CEO Yves Guillemot described it as “an opportunity to share ��������’s cultural heritage with players worldwide.”

Panels and sessions featured leading figures including World Chess Champion and Esports World Cup winner Magnus Carlsen, Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan, LA28 Olympics Chairman Casey Wasserman, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, and game creator Hideo Kojima.

Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, said: “Players need more opportunity, more great stages, more moments where they can become heroes.”

Morgan urged an “athlete-first approach,” while Wasserman underlined the need for inclusive competition structures.

Over the course of the conference, more than 250 meetings were held and 30 agreements signed, including with UNICEF, the World Football Summit, Savvy Games Group and AWS.

NGSC 2025 also introduced two new formats: The Foundry, focused on start-up pitches and investment, and NGSC Studio, which broadcast live sessions to more than 100,000 viewers worldwide.

The event will return to Riyadh in 2026.