2026 Esports Nations Cup Unveils FATAL FURY Tournament Schedule

The Esports Nations Cup (ENC) has released the competitive framework for its FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves tournament, formally adding the fighting title to its multi-game programme for 2026. According to the organizer’s latest press release on Feb 4, 2026, the FATAL FURY competition will feature 32 qualified players representing their respective countries.

The tournament will take place in week 2 of ENC 2026, from Nov 12-15, 2026, in Riyadh. Following the previously announced tournament structure, the FATAL FURY tournament will also begin with a group stage, featuring four groups of eight players.

Every group match will be played in best-of-seven (Bo7) format. The top four competitors from each group will advance to the playoff stage. The playoff will lead to the finals on Nov 15, through an intense single-elimination bracket with best-of-nine (Bo9) matches.

FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves ENC 2026  Qualification Pathways

To determine participants, ENC will facilitate a mixed model, consisting of direct invites, Qualifiers, and Wildcard entries. Under this framework, 16 of the 32 slots will be allocated based on the rankings (top 16) of the official SNK World Championship 2026.

The invites will be limited to one player per nation for geographic diversity, designed to represent the nation-first structure of ENC 2026. The official cut-off date for invites is June 28, 2026.

Among the remaining 16 slots, 13 will be filled through regional online qualifiers, scheduled to run between July 3-5, 2026. These qualifiers will feature double-elimination brackets across 16 competitive regions. The other three entries will come from Wildcard slots.

Each of the 16 regional qualifiers will offer only one ticket to FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves ENC 2026. The European regions are segmented into two competitive zones: Western Europe, and Northern and Eastern Europe. Deviating from the regional segmentation for other ENC circuits such as Dota 2 and MLBB, where Oceania was merged with Asian regions, for FATAL FURY, it will be a standalone region.

Both Americas together will be divided into five separate territories: Central America, North America, Eastern Latin America, Northern Latin America, and Southern Latin America. African and Asian regions will be segmented into another five competitive zones: Central and South Africa, Middle East and North Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

The broader regional segmentation will enhance ENC’s vision to strengthen the competitive landscape of the FATAL FURY franchise with the 2026 FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves Esports Nations Cup. According to ENC, FATAL FURY’s esports momentum has been “somewhat quiet after not seeing a new game release for over 20 years.” Organizers expect that emerging competitors from Asian, American, and European territories will show their dominance through “skill, strategy, and national pride.”