T1, Gen.G, and All Gamers executives shared how the Esports World Cup (EWC) drives each organization’s strategy during an online media session.
The Esports Foundation (EF) brought together executives from several esports organizations on Monday, April 27th, as part of an online media session — which appeared to be open to a select group of South Korean media outlets —dedicated to the Esports World Cup’s 2026
Club Partner Program. Centered around Hans Jagnow, the Foundation's Director of Clubs, focus on the program, the meeting session had top-level organizations’ executives share their strategies for the future and their opinions on the EWC.
All quotes are taken from articles by INVEN and DDaily, translated with the help of DeepL. “Faker has an aura that goes beyond the boundaries of esports”
Josh Woongki Ahn,
T1's chief operating officer, acknowledged that the club's last two EWC editions had fallen short of its own ambitions, including a top 12/13 finish in the
overall 2025 standings.
"The past two years were a kind of testing period. From now on, we will focus on the titles where we can perform and aim for better placements," he said, citing Team Falcons (two-time overall standings winner) and Team Liquid (two-time runner-up) as models to follow.
On the subject of T1's strong 2025 financial results, the COO partly credits the EWC Partner Program, not as a direct revenue source but as a legitimacy lever: "Indirectly, the EF helped us expand our portfolio of titles beyond League of Legends. This strengthened our image with potential sponsors and investors." He also stated that T1's goal is to reach a corporate valuation of one billion dollars. Reaching that milestone would, according to the COO himself, represent a fivefold increase from the club's current valuation, implying that T1 currently values itself at around $200 million.
On the marketing side, T1 is unsurprisingly leaning on the global aura of its star player, Lee "
" Sang-hyeok.
"Faker has an aura that goes beyond the boundaries of esports. Our role is to use that force to bring audiences who don't yet know our industry toward the EWC," said the South Korean club's COO.
Along those lines, Woongki Ahn identified the Vietnamese market as a priority for expansion, noting that the club is actively working to grow its presence there, including exclusive merchandise for the country. Before closing, T1's COO added that "EF's support has become the solid anchor that has allowed us to consider new game titles such as Counter-Strike and Dota." The South Korean organization had already been present in Valve's MOBA since 2019 before leaving the scene in 2022.
For the 2026 edition of the Esports World Cup, T1 has already announced its return to Fortnite, adding another title to its lineup for the event.
"The era of franchising is over"
Arnold Hur, Gen.G's CEO, took a more assertive stance. After announcing that the club now operates approximately 13 teams across different titles, he stated his ambition to compete against the best teams in the world across as many fronts as possible at the EWC — and his read on the industry is clear-cut.
"The era of franchising is over; the era of partnership has begun," he said, predicting a restructuring of the sector around a smaller number of clubs with solid business models. For Hur, the Partner Program is "an accelerator for a model that is already working."
In the same meeting, Gen.G's CEO also outlined the club's new direction: beyond being a pure esports organization, Gen.G now aims to function as an educational platform, a media company, and a consumer brand. In line with that vision, he argued that sponsorship should not sit at the center of an esports organization's revenue but should serve as a tool to enhance what already exists. Hur also believes the future of esports lies in consolidation, fewer clubs, but financially stronger and more stable ones.
All Gamers are "newcomers on the global stage"
Present at the meeting was also All Gamers — owner of LPL team Anyone’s Legends — which confirmed it’s plans for a global expansion through the words of COO Eddie Chen. He acknowledged that it is not a straightforward process, describing the organization as "newcomers on the global stage," and credited their EWC participation with helping them recruit international players, something that had been significantly harder for them before.
All Gamers had finished 18th in the EWC overall standings in 2024 before climbing to 6th in 2025, earning them a direct invitation to the Partner Program, which is extended to the top eight organizations from the previous year.
According to the COO,
All Gamers is targeting a presence in 80% of the competition's games in 2026, meaning participation in 20 of the 26 disciplines on offer. According to the established
wiki Liquipedia, AG is already fielding teams in 17 of them, though qualification for the actual competition is not guaranteed across all titles.
Like T1 — and other South Korean clubs such as Kiwoom DRX — the Chinese organization is also holding an event in Vietnam from May 8th to 10th as part of its push to grow in the region, including identifying local talent.
