The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) announced Friday the final details on the panels, tracks, and talks that will take place at the business-to-business conference, the New Global Sport Conference (NGSC 2025), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Aug. 23 – 24. EWCF said that more than 1,000 delegates, including more than 500 CEOs and global leaders from various sectors including sports, entertainment, esports, and gaming plan to attend. Of that overall number, more than 25 game publishers and 50 esports organizations will be represented next week in Riyadh.
Some of those attendees will host special panels to talk about the overall theme of this year’s conference, “The Kingdom’s Next Era of Play.”
Leaders from the Kingdom including HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, H.E. Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, H.E. Abdullah Al-Swaha and Fahd Hamidaddin will also be on hand to outline the country’s vision for the future of gaming and esports, as it relates to its plans for Vision 2030, the country’s overall long-term plan to move away from dependence on fossil fuels and towards other forms of revenue such as sports, entertainment, gaming, tourism, technology, and more.
Those talks include:
- Gaming Through Time: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reflects on the company’s legacy: Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry, and the future ahead.
- IP Strategies Unlocked: Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, Sega COO Shuji Utsumi, and Roblox VP of Product Economy Enrico D’Angelo discuss how creative strategies help evolve intellectual property.
- Powering the Ecosystem: EA’s Monica Dinsmore joins Krafton’s Minho Yi, Tencent’s Mars Hou, Ubisoft’s Francois-Xavier Deniele, and Esports World Cup Foundation’s Fabian Scheuermann to explore topics related to esports including competitive balance, game design, and more.
- Blurring the Lines Between Games and Cinema: Former Metal Gear Solid series developer Hideo Kojima is joined by filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn to the discuss storytelling and the relationship/synergy between cinema and games.
- Nations Level Up: Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA28 Olympic Games, joins two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion Alex Morgan to discuss national pride and global sport.
- Winning as a Habit: World Chess Champion and Esports World Cup 2025 winner Magnus Carlsen, Team Liquid Co-CEO Victor Goossens, and entrepreneur Steven Bartlett discuss the links across chess, esports, and entrepreneurship.
- Football’s Next Chapter by AWS: Leaders from the Saudi Pro League, Al Qadsiah, G2 Esports, and AWS look at how AI, gaming, and esports are changing the landscape of competitive gaming.
- Navigating Capital, Growth and Strategy in Saudi Arabia and Beyond and Powering the Kingdom’s Ecosystem: RH Prince Fahad bin Mansour bin Nasser Al Saud will host two Foundry masterclasses, with a focus on scaling deals, investor–founder alignment, and Saudi Arabia’s integrated support system for gaming and sports.
- Content for the Next Generation: Amazon’s Steve Boom joins Sony’s Toshimoto Mitomo to explore how platforms, formats, and fan engagement are reshaping entertainment.
- Rules Rewritten: Peter Moore and Ralf Reichert examine how traditional sport and esports are building a new playbook together.
NGSC 2025 takes place on Aug. 23 – 24, at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh. To learn more about the New Global Sport Conference and the Esports World Cup, visit newglobalsportconference.com.
Projects backed or owned by the Saudi Arabian government such as Esports World Cup and NGSC 2025 are often criticized for helping the government engage in so-called “sports washing,” or using various forms of sport and entertainment to cover up its record on human rights, women’s rights, LGTBQ+ rights, 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.