Bigo Live has locked-in an official content partnership for the Esports World Cup 2026, giving gaming communities across North Africa and the Middle East a proper home in which to follow the tournament. The deal comes at a time when esports viewership across MENA is growing fast.
Instead of targeting the full EWC schedule (because that would be crazy), the partnership is aimed at PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Honor of Kings, probably because audience interest in the region is strongest around those three titles. What’s more, the smaller scope gives Bigo Live a sharper activation to build around rather than spreading itself thin across all 25 titles at the event.
What Bigo Live is actually doing at EWC 2026
Bigo Live is running creator-led watch parties where streamers will share live reactions, guide multilingual conversations, and otherwise keep fans engaged between key moments. The app itself includes dedicated tournament schedules, premium placements, event pages, launch screens, and match notifications so fans can keep up with all the action as it unfolds.
Viewers who think they know their stuff can also give their match predictions, as well as take part in tournament discussions and EWC-themed giveaways via the app. Bigo is additionally pushing content across its social channels, timed to coincide with major tournament phases and ceremonies.
Khaldoun Mahmoud, Government Relations Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Bigo Technology, said, "The partnership is designed to make esports viewing interactive and communal while supporting regional creators and celebrating MENA gaming communities."
The scale of EWC 2026
The Esports World Cup 2026 is a major undertaking. The event, which opened with a ceremony in Paris on July 8 and is being held outside Riyadh for the first time, will see over 2,000 players from more than 200 clubs and 100+ nations compte competing across a $75 million prize pool over seven weeks.
The mobile titles Bigo Live is focusing on have all started,with the Honor of Kings World Cup spanning from July 30 to August 8, and the PUBG Mobile World Cup running from August 6 ‘till August 16. The MLBB Mid Season Cup concluded on August 1, while the closing ceremony took place on August 23.
Phew. It's a heck of a packed schedule.
How Bigo fits into the wider EWC broadcast picture
Bigo Live isn't the only new face in EWC 2026's broadcast lineup. France Télévisions airs a daily highlights program called La Minute EWC, with OTP (One Trick Production) holding the French live broadcast rights for major titles. Over in South Korea, where esports are already huge, Naver's CHZZK has secured exclusive Korean-language streaming rights across all 25 EWC titles this year.
That patchwork of partners points to a broader EWC strategy: rather than one global platform, the tournament is building a network of local broadcasters who know their audiences and Bigo Live's MENA activation fits that model cleanly.
Writer's take
Bigo Live chose to anchor its activation around three mobile titles rather than trying to cover the whole EWC. PUBG Mobile, MLBB and Honor of Kings have genuine mass followings in MENA, and a tight focus gives creators something concrete to build around. Spreading resources across two dozen titles would have diluted the impact considerably and weakened the content.
EWC 2026 continues through its closing ceremony on August 23. The PUBG Mobile World Cup wraps August 16, and the Honor of Kings World Cup concludes August 8, making the next two weeks the busiest stretch on Bigo Live's EWC calendar.
