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Season anticipated to be biggest ever before the Games of the Future 2026 in Kazakhstan
HONG KONG, April 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the World Phygital Community (WPC) announces the 2025/2026 ranking tournament season for athletes and clubs aiming to qualify for the Games of the Future in Kazakhstan next year. Running from August 1st to December 15th, 2025, the tournaments hosted by WPC members worldwide, will provide the opportunity for clubs and athletes to show their prowess in phygital sports and qualify to compete at the largest global phygital sport’s event next year.
An overview of the WPC ranking tournaments around the world
During the season, phygital competitors will participate in a round of regional tournaments within each participating country called Phygital Origins, followed by national tournaments, which are called Phygital Rivals.
Dan Merkley, Chairperson of the WPC, said, “This new season will be the biggest ever. With 96 World Phygital Community members across 92 countries, this is the chance for anyone who wants to be part of this fast-growing phenomenon to step up and prove themselves. Phygital sport is for everyone, and we are eager to see which phygital superstars emerge this season.”
Tournaments can feature the following core disciplines: Phygital Football, Phygital Basketball, Phygital Shooter and Phygital Dancing. The first three consist of two stages—a digital round, where athletes compete in a video game version of the discipline, followed by a physical round, where they face off in a real-world version of the discipline. Phygital Dancing tournaments use well-known dancing video games to deliver the phygital experience in a single stage.
Following conclusion of these tournaments in December, rankings are calculated and the top two clubs and athletes in each discipline will go straight through to the Games of the Future 2026, while clubs and athletes placed 3rd – 26th will go through to the Phygital Contenders tournament to fight for their place at the event.
Prior to the season starting, all WPC members can apply to host Phygital Origins and Phygital Rivals tournaments from May 1st till July 31st, 2025.
Notes to Editors:
About the World Phygital Community (WPC):
The World Phygital Community (WPC) is a non-profit, international organization that aims to promote phygital sport worldwide by uniting physical and digital communities globally. It is responsible for providing guardianship of the rules and regulations of phygital sport and hosting the Phygital Origins and Phygital Rivals. The winners from the Phygital Origins progress to the Phygital Rivals, facing other Phygital Origins winners, for a chance to compete at the Games of the Future.
For more information please visit: https://worldphygital.org/
About the Games of the Future (GOTF):
The Games of the Future is an annual international event that fuses the worlds of physical and digital and is the pinnacle of phygital sport. The tournament brings together the next generation of phygital sporting heroes from all over the world to compete in a diverse range of phygital disciplines and challenges. The Games of the Future 2025 will be held in the UAE while The Games of the Future 2026 will be held in Kazakhstan.
For more information please visit: https://gofuture.games/
Phygital athletes competing in the digital part of a phygital ranking tournament.
Phygital athletes competing in the physical part of a phygital ranking tournament.
