IOC, Saudi Arabia End Olympic Esports Games Partnership

The International Olympic Committee has canceled its 12-year agreement with Saudi Arabia to host the Olympic Esports Games, while announcing it intends to regroup on the initiative with a new focus.

The first event had been scheduled to be held in Riyadh in 2027.

In a statement, the IOC said the initiative 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.” But the IOC met with its Saudi Arabian partners during the recently held Esports World Cup Foundation and mutually agreed to end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games “while pursuing their own esports ambitions on separate paths.”

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