The World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) is an international esports competition held in Shanghai and organized by AliSports. The first event had a total prize money of over US$5.5 million, with the finals taking place in December 2016.

The WESG is inspired by the Olympic Games. During the first three years, teams were required to include players from the same country to highlight national pride, which made the event unique in esports. This rule led some countries to create teams specifically for WESG. In 2019, the rule was changed to allow teams to include up to two players from other countries. The event also has separate competitions for men and women. Most tournaments use a single-elimination format, where a player is removed from the competition after one loss.

Games

The following games were included. In 2017, WESG added Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Hearthstone to include female tournaments.

Tournament history

In March 2016, the qualifying rounds for the first edition were expected to begin in April 2016. The event was held in Shanghai.

Even though there were large prize pools, many top players did not attend the event, especially because CS:GO’s first major of 2017 was coming up soon. WESG 2016 for CS:GO was the last major tournament before the ELEAGUE Major 2017. France’s Team EnVyUs won the majority of CS:GO’s biggest prize pool by defeating Poland’s Team Kinguin. Poland’s number one team took third place by beating Turkey’s Space Soldiers and earned a spot in Atlanta for the major.

In Dota 2, the Filipino team TNC Pro Team defeated Denmark’s Cloud9 to win the grand prize. Sweden’s Alliance beat Peru’s Infamous to take bronze.

In Starcraft 2, Koreans dominated as expected. Jun "TY" Tae-yang defeated his countryman Cho "Maru" Seong-ju. In the third-place match, America’s Alex "Neeb" Sunderhaft defeated Germany’s Tobias "ShoWTimE" Sieber.

In Hearthstone, the Philippines’s Euneil "Staz" Javiñas defeated Sweden’s Jon "Orange" Westberg in a close final. In the third-place match, Germany’s Raphael "BunnyHoppor" Peltzer defeated Germany’s Sebastian "Xixo" Bentert.

Despite being called WESG 2017, the event was held in March 2018 in Haikou. In CS:GO, more top teams attended than in 2016. However, teams like Brazil’s SK Gaming and the U.S.’s Cloud9 were eliminated early. Teams such as South Korea’s MVP PK and Brazil’s Team One, which had not qualified for the major, advanced further than expected. Sweden’s Fnatic won the WESG 2017 title for their second straight major tournament victory after coming back from a large deficit against Turkey’s Space Soldiers.

In the third-place match, Russia’s Team Russia defeated Brazil’s Team One. In Dota 2, Russia’s team beat Brazil’s paiN Gaming. Greece’s Team Hellas defeated China’s Rock.Y in the third-place match.

South Korea dominated again in Starcraft 2. Maru won the title after defeating his countryman Park "Dark" Ryung-woo. Finland’s Joona "Serral" Sotala defeated South Korea’s Kim "Classic" Doh-woo in the third-place match.

In Hearthstone, Turkey’s Kaan "Fujitora" Çekli defeated Canada’s Michael "Luker" Luker to win the grand prize. Japan’s unknown player, posesi, took third place after beating Thailand’s Kantaphon "ScreaM" Suwanmalee. In CS:GO’s female grand final, Russia’s team narrowly defeated China’s LLG Gaming to win most of the prize pool. In the third-place match, Canada’s team defeated Sweden’s team. In Hearthstone’s female final, China’s GLHuiHui defeated China’s Lioon. The UK’s Cordelia "Scarakye" Chui lost to Hong Kong’s Ip Yan in the third-place match.

Despite being called WESG 2018, the event was held in March 2019 in Chongqing. The WESG 2018 tournament started only a week after IEM Katowice 2019, the first CS:GO major of 2019. This made it difficult for most top teams to attend. Only teams like G2 and Fnatic, which had been eliminated or failed to qualify for the major, participated. Brazil’s MIBR also attended, but jetlag caused them to be eliminated early in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Poland’s AGO defeated Fnatic, and Windigo defeated G2. In the third-place match, France’s G2 defeated Sweden’s Fnatic. In the grand final, Bulgaria’s Windigo won against AGO to become champion. The prize money of $500,000 was received more than a year after the tournament ended.

The 2019 event was planned for early 2020 in Chongqing but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some regional qualifiers had already taken place. In 2019, the rule requiring teams to have only one nationality was relaxed.

As of June 2023, the tournament has not been officially canceled, but no announcement about its future has been made.