2026: Year Zero

Esports, Sport, Technology, and Culture at a Point of Transformation 

by Paul J. Foster, KStJH

The year 2026 marks a moment of profound transition.

For the Global Esports Federation, while we enter our seventh year since foundation, in many ways it is Year Zero—the point at which esports fully steps into a broader transformation at the intersection of sport, technology, culture, and human connection. It is the year we move decisively from digital coordination to real-world presence, opening offices in Los Angeles and key global hubs as we seek to connect in real life, not only online.

This shift coincides with an extraordinary alignment of global milestones. The FIFA World Cup across North America, the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games, and a sequence of major international events positioning Los Angeles as the world’s leading host city together define a year of unprecedented global attention. In parallel, the United States marks its 250^th anniversary—a moment of civic reflection rooted in participation, innovation, and shared cultural life.

Within this context, GEF will stage its flagship Global Esports Games back-to-back in two of the world’s most influential cities of entertainment and creativity: Mumbai and Los Angeles. Together, these cities represent the energy, diversity, and global reach of modern esports, and the connective power of youth culture across continents.

The Age of Intelligent Systems

What makes 2026 different is not only the scale of global sport, but the context in which it is experienced. Artificial intelligence has moved from experiment to infrastructure. It now shapes how competition is analyzed, how content is created, how communities form, and how culture travels.

Sport and esports are no longer singular broadcasts or static events. They are adaptive, intelligent ecosystems—participatory, personalized, and interactive. This evolution brings enormous opportunity, but also responsibility. The challenge is not whether AI will transform sport and esports; it already has, but how that transformation remains human-centered, fair, and inclusive.

Esports sits at the center of this shift, where sporting instinct meets technological fluency, and where a digitally native generation expresses its identity, creativity, and belonging.

From Digital First to Real-World Connection

As technology accelerates digital interaction, physical connection becomes more valuable, not less.

Year Zero reflects a clear conviction: legitimacy, trust, and long-term impact are built in real places, with real institutions. Opening offices in Los Angeles and around the world is not symbolic; it is structural. It embeds esports within civic life, global sport, culture, and policy, and reinforces our commitment to governance, accountability, and inclusion.

Los Angeles and Mumbai exemplify this approach. Each is a global powerhouse of entertainment, technology, and youth culture. Together, they frame esports as both global and local, digital and physical, competitive and cultural.

Building What Endures

GEF’s focus in 2026 is not a single event, but ecosystem building; connecting esports with education, health, culture, creators, and career pathways, and ensuring that global moments translate into lasting opportunities for young people everywhere.

The legacy of Year Zero will not be measured in views, medals, or trophies alone. It will be measured by whether a new generation feels connected to each other, to opportunity, and to a global movement that reflects how they live, play, and create.

2026 is not a culmination.

It is a beginning.

Esports, Sport, Technology, and Culture are converging.

The Global Esports Federation is present—in real life—to help shape what comes next.

Paul J. Foster, KStJH, is President & Chief Executive Officer of the Global Esports Federation and Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Technology Group.