Saudi Arabia will no longer stage the inaugural Esports Olympics scheduled to be held in 2027, the International Olympic Committee announced on Thursday.
The IOC and the Saudi National Olympic Committee "mutually agreed that they will end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games", a statement said.
The first Esports Games was originally slated to be held this year in Riyadh but were postponed in February.
The Saudis were guaranteed the hosting of the Games for 12 years from 2025, when the agreement was first announced by the IOC in July last year.
Then-IOC president Thomas Bach had been influential in the creation of the event but has since been replaced at the helm by Kirsty Coventry.
Olympic Esports Series competitions, smaller virtual sports events run by the IOC, were held in 2021 and 2023. They were widely panned by gaming critics over the lack of traditional esports titles however.
"Recently, the two parties and the Esports World Cup Foundation sat down again and reviewed this initiative," the IOC statement added.
"They mutually agreed that they will end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games. At the same time, both parties are committed to pursuing their own esports ambitions on separate paths."
The first two editions of the Esports World Cup, which includes many of the world's most popular games, were held in 2024 and earlier this year in Riyadh. It is organised by Saudi Arabia.
"EWCF will continue to focus on building on the success of the Esports World Cup, the world's largest gaming and esports festival, and launching the inaugural Esports Nations Cup in November 2026," said the Saudis' Esports World Cup Foundation.
MULTIPLE STUMBLING BLOCKS
The Esports Games will now have to start from scratch, without a host country or deadline, despite several challenges posed by trying to integrate esports into the Olympic movement.
"This approach will be a chance to better fit the Olympic Esports Games to the long-term ambitions of the Olympic movement and to spread the opportunities presented by the Olympic Esports Games more widely, with the objective of having the inaugural Games as soon as possible," the IOC said.
Negotiations with game publishers, establishing national teams and anti-doping programmes have all proved difficult.
The IOC's "non-violence" criteria also means that many of the most popular games cannot be used.
"The overwhelming feedback received from the Olympic movement stakeholders and the esports community shows that there is a great desire and considerable support for the initiative," the IOC said.
Saudi sports events are routinely accused of being used as a distraction from human rights violations, a practice dubbed "sportswashing".
The kingdom has invested heavily in sport over the last few years, though critics, including women's rights groups and members of the LGBTQ community, allege it is using its Public Investment Fund (PIF) to sportswash its human rights record.
The country denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.