Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud attended the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris on Sunday alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
During the ceremony, Macron crowned AG.AL as the 2026 Esports World Cup Club Champion. The club finished first in the overall standings with 5,300 points and won the $7 million grand prize.
The 2026 Esports World Cup ran from July 6 to August 23, bringing together more than 2,000 professional players representing 200 clubs from 100 countries. The competition featured 25 tournaments across major esports titles, with a total prize pool of more than $75 million.
The tournament recorded a 94 per cent increase in tickets sold compared with the previous edition. More than 850 million viewers followed the competition across digital platforms, generating more than 440 million hours of watch time. Content from the tournament was distributed in 47 languages.
Esports World Cup Foundation CEO Ralf Reichert thanked the Saudi Crown Prince for his continued support of the tournament and said the Paris edition marked a new stage for the event.
“Bringing EWC to Paris marks an important new chapter,” Reichert said, adding that Riyadh would remain the home of the Esports World Cup.
The 2026 edition was the first Esports World Cup to be held outside Saudi Arabia. Riyadh hosted the inaugural tournament in 2024 and the second edition in 2025.
The Esports World Cup was announced by Mohammed bin Salman in 2023. Saudi Arabia has continued to invest in the gaming and esports sector as part of its wider efforts to develop the entertainment and sports industries.
