The popular PUBG: Battlegrounds battle royale will be one of the main decorations of the first Esports Nations Cup. The publisher of KRAFTON has officially confirmed the participation of its flagship in the tournament, which will be held in Riyadh. From November 11 to November 15, 24 national squads in Saudi Arabia will find out who is worthy to take the ENC championship crown.
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PUBG’s ENC format and Smash rules
The structure of the championship will not let anyone relax. First, 24 teams will be divided into three groups, each with eight teams and five intense matches. Only the top 16 teams make it to the finals based on the results of the group meat grinder. The most interesting thing, in fact, was saved for the crucial stage — the “Smash Rules” come into force there.
The bottom line is simple, but cruel: teams need to break through a certain point limit, and after that, they must win the match. This is the only way, by the way, to hang gold medals around your neck. To be honest, this creates an insane tension, because even the leader of the table can be left with nothing without the coveted “Dinner-Dinner”. It is logical that such a system requires nerves of steel from the players.
PUBG ENC qualifications and selection system
Getting into the favorites list is not an easy task. Half of the slots — 12 pieces — have already been reserved by KRAFTON for the leaders of their rating. Everything is logical: the players’ points are summed up and form the national weight of the team. But the remaining vouchers, in general, will have to be gnawed out in open quarters, which will be held from July 10 to 12.
The geography of the selections, let’s put it this way, covers the entire planet:
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America, Asia, Oceania and Southeast Asia: two slots per region will be selected.
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EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa): Along the way, I got the fattest piece — four places.
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Wild Card: two more trains will be received by special invitations.
For fans and pros, this is a real chance to see the best of the best fight under national flags. Well, PUBG has already become the tenth discipline on the ENC list, joining such heavyweights as Counter-Strike 2 and Mobile Legends.
Direct invites and qualifications ENC 2026
The PUBG Esports Nations Cup 2026 selection system, to be honest, is built around PUBG National Team Ranking — it’s such a harsh metric that dissects the results of national teams to the bone. This entire rating is pieced together from the individual performances of the players. Global events at the PGS and PGC levels have the main weight here — it is there that teams earn fat points for frags and final positions.
By the way, the KRAFTON Power Rankings only adds to the heat by evaluating nations based on their stability on the world stage. Those who have managed to get into the top 12, take direct invitations to ENC without unnecessary hassle. This, apparently, immediately throws heavyweights like South Korea or China into the heat of the main stage, bypassing the meat grinder of qualifications.
How PUBG National Team Ranking Works
The mechanics of scoring points in PUBG National Team Ranking are pretty transparent. First, points are awarded to each player individually for the official skating rinks, and then they are summed up for the whole country. The indicators of the top 5 best shooters of the nation at the end of the season are taken into account. Moreover, they take into account everything: from shooting accuracy to the ability to survive in the final zones.
Interestingly, international PGS and PGC tournaments generate up to 70% of the total rating weight. To get into the top 3 at PGS means to raise the national team in the table by 500-1000 points at once, and PGC doubles these figures due to its status. If someone from the top decides to change their citizenship, the points will be transferred to them only with a delay of six months – such is the protection against transfer manipulation.
12 direct invites and qualification tournaments
A dozen direct penetrations, in total, will go to the leaders of the rating at the time of June 1, 2026. The remaining 12 vacant places will have to be gnawed out in ten ENC qualifying tournaments. The grid was distributed as follows: Asia and Europe will take four slots each, and America and other regions — one or two each.
The PUBG ENC selections themselves will last for two weeks in June. The format is the good old double—elimination, so even after a misfire in the top bracket, teams will have a slim chance to get through the “loser”. There is also a Wild Card, which is a kind of lifeline for countries that have not managed to earn points in PGS, but have a high FACEIT among their players.
This approach, in truth, forces countries not just to collect mixes “at one time”, but to actually invest in national leagues throughout the year. Unlike club tournaments like PKL, where everything is decided by sponsors, ENC is about pure patriotism and equality of opportunity. No handouts, just the rating and skill.
KRAFTON and the ENC controversy in Saudi Arabia
The rapid rise of the tournament was made possible by the partnership between KRAFTON and the Esports World Cup Foundation, which was formed back in November 2025. The publisher is on a par with such giants as Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, which, in principle, guarantees a high level of organization.
However, despite the scale and huge prize money, there still seems to be a lot of controversy in the community. Many analysts and players, to put it bluntly, are skeptical about money from Saudi Arabia. The term “sportwashing” is being discussed online, saying that the Kingdom is trying to distract the world from human rights issues through top events. Anyway, the investments of the Savvy Games Group and the State Fund have already, in fact, changed the landscape of the industry forever. It is impossible to ignore this — all that remains is to watch the game.
Favorites and Strongest regions of ENC PUBG 2026
When the dust from the qualifiers settles, the favorites of ENC PUBG 2026 will be visible to the naked eye. These are the regions that have historically dominated the PGC and PGS rankings. South Korea will again rely on ideal tactics, China on aggressive macro control, and the United States, according to tradition, will travel on an individual “aim”. Thailand can’t be written off either — these guys optimize for meta faster than anyone else.
Traditional PUBG Leaders on the Global Stage
The Koreans tend to hold the lead in the PGC with four wins in the last five years — their stability is amazing. Chinese PUBG, in fact, captures the KRAFTON Power Rankings due to the incredible depth of the composition. There, even second-line players are able to demolish cabins at PMGC.
The US national team in the Nations Cup is usually strong with its “streamer” skill and the ability to read zones, and Thailand made a powerful breakthrough after getting into the top 4 at the Asian PGS. The forecast for 2026 is still cautious: most likely, the entire top 4 ENC will go to Asian teams, but the Wild Card may well throw out a surprise in favor of Europe or the United States. A lot will be decided at the spring stage of PGS 2026 — it is there that we will see who is really ready to dominate Riyadh.
