Esports Nations Cup Adds Chess.com, MOONTON Games, and SNK to Lineup

The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has announced that Chess.com, MOONTON Games, and SNK will join the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC) as official publishers.

This landmark tournament, set to debut in November 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will bring together the best esports players from around the globe to represent their countries — a first-of-its-kind event at this scale.

Esports Nations Cup adds Chess.com, MOONTON Games, and SNK to lineup ahead of its 2026 launch in Riyadh. | Image via X

A New Era of National Esports

Unlike the Esports World Cup, which focuses on club competition, the ENC introduces "national pride" into the mix. Players won’t just be competing for their organizations; they’ll be fighting for their countries. For fans, that adds a whole new layer of excitement. Imagine cheering not just for your favorite team but for your nation on the global stage.

The ENC will feature national teams from North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, competing in both team-based and solo formats. Qualification will be multi-layered, combining global rankings, regional qualifiers, and wildcard entries to ensure inclusivity and competitiveness.

Publishers and Partnerships

With Chess.com, MOONTON Games (creators of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang), and SNK (known for Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, and The King of Fighters) joining, the ENC now has seven confirmed publisher partners. They join founding publishers EA, Krafton, Tencent, and Ubisoft, who are helping shape the tournament’s structure and format. Each publisher will co-design qualification paths and competition formats for their respective titles, ensuring consistency across the event.

According to Ralf Reichert, CEO of EWCF, the goal is to make the ENC truly player-centric. “By partnering closely with publishers, we can give players the opportunity to represent their country in the games that define their careers. With the seven partners announced so far, we can activate players worldwide and deliver a Nations Cup that feels earned for players and real for fans.”

The ENC builds on the success of the Esports World Cup (EWC), which is already the world’s largest multi-title esports event. The second event concluded in last August, featured 25 titles with a massive $60 million prize pool.

The first ENC will be hosted in Riyadh before moving to a rotating host model, bringing esports culture to different regions every two years. More details about qualification formats, participating titles, and national team structures will be revealed in the coming weeks.