The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) have mutually agreed to end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games initiative, which was being built alongside the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF).

The Olympic Esports Games project, which was first announced as part of a 2024 partnership between the IOC and SOPC, was created to bring competitive gaming closer to the traditional Olympics and bridge traditional sports with a rapidly growing online audience.

The collaboration also involved the Esports World Cup Foundation, which has been central to Saudi Arabia’s broader push into gaming and esports through large-scale investments and events, most notably the annual Esports World Cup.

IOC and SOPC Statement on Olympic Esports Games

In a joint statement, the IOC and SOPC confirmed that they had “discussed the concept of the Olympic Esports Games at length in line with the partnership they announced in 2024.” However, after recent meetings involving the Esports World Cup Foundation, all parties mutually agreed that they will end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games. At the same time, both parties are “committed to pursuing their own esports ambitions on separate paths.”

The IOC added that it “will develop a new approach to the Olympic Esports Games, taking the feedback from the ‘Pause and Reflect’ process into account, and pursue a new partnership model.”

According to the statement, this next phase will aim “to better fit the Olympic Esports Games to the long-term ambitions of the Olympic Movement and to spread the opportunities presented by the Olympic Esports Games more widely, with the objective of having the inaugural Games as soon as possible.”

While the IOC looks to decipher how esports fits within the Olympic framework, Saudi Arabia is fast expanding its own gaming ecosystem independently through projects like the Esports World Cup and its targets for Vision 2030.

In 2025, the EWCF announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup would take place in 2026, with the best esports professionals in the world representing their nations rather than endemic esports organisations.

In many ways, this would mimic the Olympic setup, with players representing their countries.