The Esports World Cup 2026 is moving from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to France, Paris, due to the on-going conflict in the Middle East, according to Alexander Lee’s report for Gamesbeat.
For the last few weeks, many esports industry leaders, sponsors, and fans looked how the start of the Esports World Cup 2026 slowly approached—whilst the situation in Iran and the rest of the Middle East became even more complicated.
In recent days, rumours of the Esports World Cup 2026 moving to Paris sparkled. Now, Alexander Lee’s report is the closest we have to a confirmation.
The report looks at various aspects that make hosting the Esports World Cup 2026 in Saudi Arabia a tough challenge, with traveling being the most serious concern.
“The Esports World Cup’s move to Paris reflects uncertainty around travel in the Middle East amid the ongoing conflict in Iran. During last year’s iteration of the Esports World Cup, over 2,500 esports players and team staff flew into Riyadh. With airlines cancelling flights to the Middle East over safety concerns, any large-scale event in the region faces a significant risk of cancellations or delays jeopardizing the production. – Alexander Lee”
Esports isn’t the only industry that decided to cancel their plans to host an event in the Middle East recently. For instance, Formula 1 went into a five-week hiatus after canceling their races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which had been planned to take place on April 12 and April 19, respectively.
The Esports World Cup plays a fundamental part in esports right now. Including a total prize pool of around USD$70M and a 40-team Club Program valued at USD$20M, teams have rapidly become dependant on the Saudi Arabian money; an hypothetical sudden disappearance of the Esports World Cup would have potential serious consequences.
According to the original report, the relocation of the Esports World Cup shouldn’t “impact any of the event’s pre-existing sponsorship deals.” In fact, the report explains that “some sponsors could even benefit from the move” as they already have operations in Europe and hosting the event in Paris would get them closer to “an in-person audience that would have been harder to reach in Riyadh.”
Logically, sponsors whose targeted audience mostly resides in Saudi Arabia could be affected. However, the report explains that a solution could be found in the shape of, for example, “additional promotion rights in future events.”
Finally, moving the Esports World Cup 2026 to Paris would also present a challenge in terms of infrastructure. France has plenty of arenas or venues that could host an event of this caliber. However, the Esports World Cup often has multiple esports titles being played in the same week for various weeks. In the Esports World Cup held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, fans have the opportunity to move from one arena to another enjoying multiple esports at once. This feeling of being in an esports theme park would be harder to build in France.
If we exclusively talk about Rainbow Six Siege, the move to France shouldn’t be a huge challenge. In February 2026, the iconic sledgehammer traveled to Paris as the best teams in the world fought to lift it at the Six Invitational 2026. Therefore, it seems like another international championship will be played in the French capital only six months after FaZe Clan’s victory.
For more information about Rainbow Six Siege and its esports scene, make sure to check out Siege.GG.
