Alternative Plans: IOC Cancels Esports Olympics Games Alliance With Saudi Arabia
Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 06:15PM By Barry Janoff
October 30, 2025: Following years of preparation and initial investment, the International Olympic Committee said today it has ended its plan to stage the Esports Olympics in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Under a 12-year alliance signed with the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee in 2024, the inaugural Esports Olympics originally were due to be held this year in Riyadh, but later were postponed to 2027.
According to the IOC today, “In the last year, the International Olympic Committee and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee have discussed the concept of the Olympic Esports Games at length in line with the partnership they announced in 2024.
“Recently, the two parties and the Esports World Cup Foundation sat down again and reviewed this initiative. They 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 Esports Olympics concept was developed under then IOC president Thomas Bach. Kirsty Coventry has since taken over as IOC president after being elected in March.
“The initiative of the Olympic Esports Games has created a great deal of excitement amongst all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement and in the esports community, who are all looking forward to the first edition,” the IOC posted to its Web site.
“The IOC, for its part, 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 IOC, “This approach will be a chance 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.
“The overwhelming feedback received from the Olympic Movement stakeholders and the esports community shows that there is a great desire and considerable support for the initiative.”
Saudi Arabia currently hosts the annual Esports World Cup in Riyadh, which “pays tens of millions of dollars in prize money,” according to industry analysts. 
According to the “Global Games Market Report 2025” released last month from gaming research and consulting firm Newzoo, global gaming is projected to hit $188.8 billion in 2025 revenues with 3.6 billion players and will climb to $206.5 billion in 2028 and reach 3.9 billion gamers.
Gaming revenues in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) were projected to hit $7.1 billion in 2025, 4% of the global total, “with Saudi Arabia as a key player in contributing to the overall growth of the sector.”
North America and Asia Pacific account for 74% of global revenue: $52.7 billion and $87.6 billion, respectively. The report also shows that 50% of all consumer spending on games in 2025 will come from the U.S. ($49.6 billion) and China (($49.8 billion).
This past February, the IOC said the Esports World Cup Foundation had become the Founding Partner of the Olympic Esports Games and that the premiere event would be held in 2027 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia..
The Esports World Cup Foundation — described as a non-profit organization “committed to fostering the growth and development of esports and gaming worldwide” — oversees the Esports World Cup,.
It is run under the auspices of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Beginning this year, the IOC and Esports World Cup Foundation began a two-year “Road to Olympic Esports Games” logistics, marketing, financial and activation buildup.
"At the same time, both parties are committed to pursuing their own esports ambitions on separate paths.”
“There is now a very clear roadmap to the historic first-ever Olympic Esports Games,” Bach said in February via the IOC.
“With the Road to the Olympic Esports Games starting this year, the Games are becoming a reality. This is further evidence of the strength of the partnership between the IOC and the SOPC in many areas.”
A joint committee of the IOC and the SOPC was been set up to steer the Games.
“Today the journey to the first-ever Olympic Esports Games is clear, with an immediate timeline that works for all parties and sees the Road to Olympic Esports Games start in 2025,” Saudi Arabial’s HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal said at the time via the IOC.
“Together with the IOC there is real momentum, unity and clarity on the way forward, with the focus now on delivering.
“Already Saudi Arabia is looking forward to welcoming the world and playing its part to help the dreams of so many esports athletes come true. Just as we are seeing across all sports in the Kingdom, there is real growth and new opportunities to grasp as part of an exciting future for all.”
The IOC said it been engaging with eSports since 2018 “in a holistic way. This culminated in the organization of the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore in 2023. As a result of the success of this event, the IOC President asked the IOC Esports Commission at the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai, India, in October 2023 to study the creation of the Olympic Esports Games.”
Inaugural Olympic Esports Games Still On, But Put Off Two Years Until ’27
Esports World Cup A Preview To Olympic Esports Games
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