Honor of Kings Added to the 2026 Esports Nations Cup Roster

The Esports World Cup Foundation has officially added Tencent’s hit mobile MOBA, Honor of Kings, to the lineup for the inaugural Esports Nations Cup, which is set to kick off in November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Honor of Kings will join previously announced titles like Dota 2, Chess, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, and Trackmania. Additionally, Valve’s tactical shooter, Counter-Strike 2, has also been confirmed as a competitive title.

The Honor of Kings tournament will start on November 24, 2026, culminating in the playoff finals on November 29. A total of 24 national teams will battle it out in this tournament, beginning with a round-robin group stage divided into four groups of six teams. The top four teams from each group will progress to the next stage, which features a 16-team single-elimination playoff format.

The top 12 teams will receive direct invitations based on the ENC National Team Ranking, while nine teams will qualify through regional qualifiers, and three will secure spots via wildcard entries. The ENC National Team Ranking for Honor of Kings will be determined by points accumulated from official events, calculated from the top five players on submitted national rosters, with a cut-off date of June 7.

Regional qualifiers for Honor of Kings are scheduled for July 3-5, 2026, using double-elimination brackets across various regions.

The Esports Nations Cup will run from November 2-29 in Riyadh. This event is being organized by the EWCF, which is supported by a “sports grant” from the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Projects funded by the Saudi government often face scrutiny for being perceived as attempts at “sports washing,” aimed at diverting attention from the country’s human rights record, including issues related to women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and the treatment of journalists, as well as military actions in Yemen. These concerns have been raised by various international watchdog organizations.