The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) announced Friday that it has added new high-profile executives to its slate of speakers for the upcoming New Global Sport Conference 2025 (NGSC) to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Aug. 23-24. In addition, NGSC organizers announced that it has added “new content tracks and event design updates for its return to Riyadh on.
New speakers added to the line-up include some pretty high-profile names in the world of gaming including Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, tech author and entrepreneur Matthew Ball, Steven Diary of a CEO creator Steven Bartlett, and filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (a full list of previously announced speakers can be found below).
NGSC 2025 will also feature “The Foundry,” described by organizers as an “exclusive stage hosting masterclasses, workshops and curated roundtables.” While a majority of these will be available to attendees, “select high-level discussions will be by invitation only,” according to EWCF. In addition, a new NGSC Studio stage will host live podcasts, interviews and original content over the two day conference as well.
The EWCF also teased that a “major update from the Esports World Cup Foundation is expected during the conference.”
Speaker Line-Up:
- Hideo Kojima – Founder & CEO, Kojima Productions
- HRH Prince Faisal Bin Bandar Bin Sultan – President, Saudi Esports Federation (and president of the International Esports Federation)
- HRH Prince Fahad bin Mansour bin Nasser Al Saud – President, Saudi G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance & Founder of Entrepreneurship Vision (NGO)
- Ralf Reichert – CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation
- Casey Wasserman – Chairman, LA28
- Peter Moore – Owner, Santa Barbara Sky FC & Former Liverpool FC CEO (former gaming executive as well)
- Toshimoto Mitomo – CSO, Sony
- Brian Ward – CEO, Savvy Games Group
- Joshua Taub – COO, Activision
- Shuji Utsumi – President, SEGA
- Katsuhiro Harada – Executive Game Director & Chief Producer, Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Magnus Carlsen – World Chess Champion
- Danny Tang – Co-Founder & CEO, Hero Esports
- Taewon Yun – Senior VP & Head of Game Strategy, NCSOFT
- Jan Alessie – Co-Founder & Managing Director, World Football Summit
- Je Alipio – Director & Head of Business Development (Games) APAC & MENA, Disney
- Marat Karpeko – Partner, NVO Capital
- Jens Hilgers – Founding General Partner, BITKRAFT Ventures
- Pete Radovich – VP of Production & Senior Creative Director, CBS Sports
- Bruce Stein – Co-Founder, aXiomatic (which holds stakes in Team Liquid, Epic Games, and more)
- Kartik Prabhakara – Founding Partner, Aream & Co
- Michael Murray – Producer, Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Mike McCabe – COO, Esports World Cup Foundation
- Faisal Bin Homran – Chief Product Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation
- Fabian Scheuermann – Chief Games Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation
- Mohammad Al Nimer – Chief Commercial Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation
NGSC2025 will take place Aug. 23 – 24, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event is facilitated by EWCF, which is funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, or PIF. More details about the event can be found at www.newglobalsportconference.com.
Projects backed or owned by the Saudi Arabian government such as Esports World Cup and the NGSC2025 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.
An Aug. 11 report from Human Right Watch claims that while the Esports World Cup takes place in Riyadh, the government continued with executions in the country: at least 241 people have been executed in 2025. The most high profile of these was journalist and government critic Jurki al-Jasser, who was executed in June.