Without South Korea, there is no reason for the Esports Nations Cup to happen

It’s official, South Korea will not be competing at the Esports Nations Cup (ENC), at least not as a team sanctioned by the Korean e-Sports organization (KeSPA). Reportedly, the decision to withdraw stems from a dispute between the KeSPA and the Esports Foundation regarding roster selection.

Regardless of the reason, with the departure of the country that brought you esports as we know it today, plus a report from Darragh Barbinson of Insider Gaming that China’s participation is also currently unconfirmed, the ENC no longer can serve its primary function of determining what nation is truly the best at a given esport. 

Without South Korean teams and players, the Esports Nations Cup is pointless.

The Esports Nations Cup is a national team event created by the Esports Foundation as a sort of sister event to the Esports World Cup. The event is set to take place in Riyadh from November 2nd to the 29th, 2026. It’s another step in Saudi Arabia’s plan to present itself as a premier destination in the world of esports. 

The event will feature competition across 16 esports titles, with each team featuring players from a single nation.

The official website for the event boasts: “With over 630 applications from more than 152 countries and territories across the globe, the message is clear: the world is ready to compete. This isn’t just a tournament; it’s a global movement fueled by the dream of representing your home on the ultimate stage.”

Unfortunately, the dream of the “ultimate competition” is in limbo now that the esports powerhouse of South Korea (and possibly China too) is not attending. Indeed, the loss of South Korea alone is enough to throw multiple planned events into turmoil, given Korea’s dominance across numerous premier esports titles.

Take League of Legends, for example. Korea and China hold 13 of the total 15 League of Legends Worlds titles, and have not lost one since 2012. Without those nations in the bracket, how can the winning nation at this event seriously call their nation the best in the world at League of Legends? The truth is, they can’t.

Even without looking at a long history of the sport, T1 has won the last three Worlds titles, a historic three-peat led by the GOAT of the sport, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. The notion that you can have a national competition that doesn’t feature the unquestionably dominant reigning champions is absurd.

And it’s not just League of Legends affected. Overwatch, Dota 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, VALORANT, and other titles all feature highly competitive teams and players from South Korea and China.

Suffice it to say, their absence is not a minor setback for the ENC: it’s a disaster for the competitiveness of the tournament.

If the best in the world aren’t competing at your world championship, that’s a full-blown crisis of legitimacy for the ENC, since the entire point is to figure out which nation can put together the best single roster in a given esports.

Now it won’t be able to do that.

The Esports Foundation has not given up yet, and will continue to fight for the participation of Korean players absent any partnership with KeSPA.

“The commitment to Korean players’ participation in ENC26 is unchanged,” they said in a statement. “Over the coming week, we will engage directly with stakeholders across the Korean esports ecosystem, and with coaches and players, to align on the path forward so that the ENC26 Korean National Esports Team can compete at the level Korean fans and athletes deserve.”

However, the path around getting KeSPA’s approval is a treacherous one for players and organizations. KeSPA exercises sovereignty over all matters related to national team esports in Korea. 

In a statement to Seoul Esports, the Korean Olympic Committee stated that “only athletes selected through official member organizations are recognized as national representatives. […] It is unacceptable for a team that has not gone through the association to represent the nation.”

So any players who do compete at ENC will be defying the Korean Olympic Committee, or be forced to not compete under the banner of South Korea. In either case, the tournament remains a scuffed version of what it would be if South Korea was competing in an official capacity.

Without a pivotal nation like South Korea competing, there is no longer a point to the competition.

The ENC without South Korea is like the Olympics without America or China. While the event can technically continue without them, the hype around the event takes a massive hit, since many of the very best in the world won’t compete. 

The tournament’s legitimacy is in jeopardy, as is its viewership. The esports community was already a bit weary regarding the Esports Nations Cup as Saudi Arabian companies continue to take over the scene. Now, who will go against their ethics to watch a tournament that doesn’t even feature the top players? It feels a bit Tier 2 rather than the best of the best, and we all know viewership declines in Tier 2 when teams are competing to be crowned the best of the second-best.

If the purpose of the ENC is to create an electric event that will captivate audiences around the world by pitting the greatest players from each nation against one another, the likelihood of accomplishing that goal without South Korea is doubtful at best. And given the aforementioned hesitancy of China to compete as well, that’s arguably the two most competitive regions in esports not competing, what’s even the point?

While some events will be relatively unaffected by Korea’s absence, the ENC as a whole bears no weight if the nation that brought us esports in the first place isn’t attending. If Korea is out, then frankly, so am I.