The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWFC) announced Monday that KRAFTON’s popular PC battle royale game PUBG: Battlegrounds (PUBG) will be a competitive title at the inaugural nation vs. nation competition, the Esports Nations Cup (ENC).
PUBG joins other previously announced titles including Rainbow Six Siege, EA Sports FC 26, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Chess, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Trackmania, and Honor Kings. A total of 16 titles will be played at the nation vs. nation competition.
A total of 24 nations will compete in PUBG, with a 16 team, 10 game, grand final planned for the competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The PUBG tournament at ENC will begin on Nov. 11, and will conclude with the finals on Nov. 15.
The first stage will feature 24 teams competing in a group stage, featuring three groups of eight teams, with five matches taking place between each group. The top 16 teams from the group stage will advance to the finals. The finals will feature 16 teams competing over 10 matches maximum, using the Smash Rule system.
To get to those stages, 10 teams will be able to qualify through regional online qualifiers, two teams will come from wildcard slots, and 12 teams will be directly invited based on the PUBG National Team Ranking using the KRAFTON PUBG Power Rankings as foundation.
The Esports Nations Cup will determine its direct invites via the PUBG Ranking from KRAFTON. More on the process from EWCF:
“Clubs will be ranked based on placements at official competitions, with those points equally shared across all Club teammates who participated. The national ranking will then accumulate the points of the top four players on the submitted national roster. The cut-off date for the national ranking is June 7, 2026.”
The PUBG online qualifier will take between July 10 – 12. Qualifiers will feature double-elimination brackets, with a minimum of 12 games played. Qualifiers will be hosted in each of the following regions:
- Americas (2 slots)
- Europe + Middle East + Africa (4)
- Asia (2)
- Southeast Asia + Oceania (2)
The Esports Nations Cup is set to take place Nov. 2 – 29, in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. The competition is being produced by the EWCF, which is funded through a so-called “sports grant” by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Projects backed by the Saudi government are often accused of being used for “sports washing,” or as a cover for the government to gloss over its record on human rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, its mistreatment (and executions of) journalists, military actions in Yemen, and more. These and other criticisms have been highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.