International tournament organizer ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) shared first details on the “Road to EWC,” at Dreamhack Birmingham.
In March, DreamHack Birmingham will serve as a way for aspiring and seasoned esports players to secure a spot at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this summer.
This will include qualifiers for Street Fighter 6, FATAL FURY: City of the WoIves, and Trackmania. EFG said that more $120,000 USD will be up for grabs across all of the Birmingham qualifiers. More details can be found below:
Street Fighter 6
- Format: 512-player cap. Double Elimination Pools into Top 32 Finals.
- Qualification: Top two players advance to EWC 2026.
- Prize Pool: $50,000 ($15,000 allotted for first place).
- Key Dates: March 28 (Pools/Top 16) and March 29 (Top 8 Finals).
FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves
- Format: 256-player cap. Double Elimination Pools into Top 32 Finals.
- Qualification: Top four players advance to EWC 2026.
- Prize Pool: $50,000 ($15,000 for 1st place).
- Key Dates: March 27 (Pools/Top 16) and March 29 (Top eight Finals).
Trackmania
- Format: 128-player cap. Group Stage (DE Bracket) into Top 32 Finals.
- Qualification: Top eight players advance to EWC 2026.
- Prize Pool: $20,000 ($5,000 for 1st place).
- Key Dates: March 27 (Pools/Top 16), March 28 (Top 32/Top 16), and March 29 (Top eight Finals).
For more information, visit dreamhack.com.
DreamHack Birmingham is set to take place March 27 – 29, at the NEC in Birmingham England. DreamHack is owned by EFG, which in turn is owned by Savvy Games Group, a Public Investment Fund-owned games company that also owns Scopely, SNK Corporation, and controls the Saudi Arabian government’s portfolio of game-related investments. Soon it will also serve as the parent company of Electronic Arts.
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.