ENC 2026 delayed

Why is Esports Nations Cup 2026 Being Postponed Until Next Year?

Arijit Das

Modified - Aug 18, 2026, 11:45 AM

3 min

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Summary

Originally scheduled to begin on 2nd November 2026, the Esports Nations Cup event will now be held next year.
In a public statement, the Esports Federation explained the reasons behind the delay.

With the ENC 2026 delayed by the Esports Foundation, a lot of uncertainty has arisen over the tournament's future. Originally scheduled for November 2026, the event will now take place next year, according to the official announcement. The event was supposed to welcome national teams from more than 100 countries in Riyadh from November 2 to 29 this year. Now, with the Esports Nations Cup delayed, the gaming community has been caught completely off guard.

Why ENC 2026 Delayed by EF?

One of the biggest reasons that got ENC 2026 delayed was the ‘wider regional situation’. It created uncertainty, especially since the tournament is a large international event. This is what the official press release mentioned:

Given ENC’s unprecedented international scale and the uncertainty created by the wider regional situation, EF believes moving the inaugural competition to November 2027 is the responsible decision to provide the certainty and stability that National Teams, publishers, partners and fans expect.

Teams and stakeholders from more than 100 countries were involved in the event. The Esports Foundation believes that it would be better to host the tournament next year in November given the situation at hand. EF specifically mentioned that Saudi Arabia is fully equipped and ready to host major events, and other sporting events will continue as planned.

Above all, EF's priority is to ensure ENC's first edition is successful. They want to ensure the tournament meets the standards expected by the players, national teams, partners, and the fans. Meanwhile, players and fans who missed EWC 2026 action can check out our coverage of the PMWC 2026 Grand Finals table.

Esports Nations Cup: What's Next for the Event?

After the Esports World Cup, the Esports Nations Cup 2026 was supposed to be the next big global event. From Mobile Legends: Bang Bang to Counter-Strike 2, there were promising games in the lineup this year. With the Esports Nations Cup 2026 delayed, the news certainly came as a shock to the teams preparing for the event.

The one-year delay from EF is to ensure they can deliver everyone's expectations under the right conditions. For now, it is said that all ENC Development Fund commitments to National Team Partners will remain in place.

In the coming days, the Esports Foundation will work closely with partners and publishers to share new developments on the schedule and qualification pathways. To ensure you do not miss out on any new updates on the Esports Nations Cup, stay tuned!