Dates, games and prize pools for Esports World Cup 2026

The Esports World Cup Foundation has just announced the dates for the various tournaments that will take place in Saudi Arabia, as well as the full list of competitions and prize pools. EWC 2026 will be historic in that regard, to the point that the organization itself is calling it a “life-changing prize pool”, with a total of 75 million dollars distributed overall, a new record following the 70 million awarded in 2025. The event as a whole, featuring 25 different tournaments across 24 games, will run from July 6 to August 23.

As in previous years, this prize money is split into two distinct pools. First, the Club Championship, with 30 million dollars in total, including 7 million for the winner, a prize unchanged from past editions. This pool is shared among all participating organizations, with the most successful teams across all tournaments being the most rewarded at the end. Under this system, clubs competing in the highest number of games are clearly favored, much like at the Olympic Games, a format that notably allowed Team Falcons to win the last two editions.

For the main titles, there are no major surprises beyond the announcement of precise dates. The League of Legends tournament, for instance, will take place from July 15 to 19, featuring 16 teams, four more teams than 2025. The same applies to VALORANT, which will once again kick off the event during the first week, from July 2 to 12, with 16 teams also. Riot Games’ two flagship titles both feature two million dollars in prize money, while Teamfight Tactics comes with a smaller pool of 500,000 dollars.

As for the rest of the lineup, the only two new additions are Fortnite and Trackmania, replacing StarCraft II and Rennsport, two titles that were present in the previous two editions.