New Global Sport Conference 2025 Concludes Esports World Cup
– 2 min read
Following the Esports World Cup, the New Global Sport Conference 2025 took place in Riyadh. The event was attended by more than 1,500 delegates, including 500 CEOs from sectors such as gaming, esports, sports, technology and investment.
The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) concluded the New Global Sport Conference 2025 (NGSC 2025), a two-day forum held during the Esports World Cup closing weekend. The event in Riyadh was attended by more than 1,500 delegates, including 500 CEOs from the gaming, esports, sports, technology and investment sectors.
Hans Jagnow, Director, NGSC 2025, said: "NGSC 2025 has solidified its role as the platform where the future of our industries is shaped. Over two days, leaders across gaming, esports, sport, technology and investment came together at a scale never seen before. The launch of the Esports Nations Cup defined how the first global national competition in esports will be structured, while unveiled strategic collaborations showed what can be achieved when the most influential stakeholders align behind a shared vision. The outcomes of this year’s conference will set the direction of our industry and drive the growth and transformation of gaming and esports worldwide."
During the two-day event, more than 250 bilateral meetings were held and 30 memorandums of understanding and strategic agreements were signed with partners including the Esports World Cup Foundation, Unicef, the World Football Summit, Savvy Games Group and AWS. NGSC also introduced two new formats this year: The Foundry stage, which was fully booked for masterclasses on investment and start-up pitches, while the NGSC Studio broadcast live sessions with speakers and panellists to over 100,000 viewers worldwide.
The event was opened by Saudi Arabia's senior leadership, including four ministers, with a presentation entitled The Kingdom's Next Era of Play. This presentation outlined the country’s vision to position gaming and esports as drivers of future growth.
Following the announcement of the Esports Nations Cup (ENC), a new international tournament set to launch in November 2026, executives from Ubisoft, Krafton, Tencent, EA and EWCF discussed how national representation will impact the competition and fan engagement. François-Xavier Danel of Ubisoft said: "There is something different with nations - this sentiment of pride that continues to grow around the world."
National pride was also discussed in a panel moderated by Pete Radovich of CBS Sports and featuring EWCF CEO Ralf Reichert, FIFA Women's World Cup champion Alex Morgan, and LA28 Olympic Games chairman Casey Wasserman. Reichert said: "Players need more opportunity – more great stages, more moments where they can become heroes." Morgan emphasised the importance of an athlete-first approach, while Wasserman noted the importance of inclusive competition structures.
World Chess Champion and Esports World Cup 2025 winner Magnus Carlsen, Team Liquid Co-CEO Victor Goossens, and entrepreneur Steven Bartlett discussed the connections between chess, esports, and entrepreneurship, as well as how esports relates to other types of competition. In Blurring the Lines, game creator Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn discussed storytelling across cinema and games. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot announced that the Unesco World Heritage site of AlUla in Saudi Arabia will be recreated as free, playable content in Assassin's Creed Mirage.
The New Global Sport Conference will return in 2026 to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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