The Games of the Future Abu Dhabi 2025 Opens with Action-Packed Day of Phygital Sport, Intense Gaming, and Raucous Crowds

Abu Dhabi, UAE - 19 December 2025: The Games of the Future Abu Dhabi 2025 powered by ADNOC kicked into gear on Thursday, providing an early demonstration of how sport and technology is converging to create engrossing, elite competition. From MOBA PC.Dota 2 to Phygital Football powered by ADNOC to Phygital Basketball.3on3 FreeStyle brought to you by M42, the opening day of the landmark event brought the physical and digital worlds together in the UAE capital.

 

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and running across six days inside ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, the Games of the Future 2025 opened with MOBA PC.Dota 2 and MOBA Mobile.MLBB.

 

After a day of intense MOBA PC.Dota 2 competition, Win became the week's first finalists, securing a place in Friday's Grand Final after defeating Viking 2-0.

 

'DOTA is all about strategy and one of the biggest changes we made was to switch captains -it worked in our favour,' said Ivan MinD_ContRoL Borislavov Ivanov, captain of Nigma Galaxy. 'However, I just want to highlight that in my experience, Games of the Future is one of the best events we have competed in, in terms of technology and equipment. The gaming computers and sound systems are one of the best I have seen, and it helped the team a lot in our games.' 

 

While the battle arena tournaments took place on PC and Mobile, things took a turn for the physical with the start of the Phygital Football powered by ADNOC tournament in Hall 8. Among the first day's ties, UEL TEAM and Greni Smith tied 2-2 after eight minutes in the digital stage before drawing 1-1 after 10 minutes of physical five-a-side in front of a raucous crowd - taking it to penalties, which were won by UEL TEAM, 4-3.

 

Meanwhile, Peñarol edged Z10 in a fascinating contest, winning 5-4 online before drawing 2-2 on the pitch; and MÉXICO QUETZALES - ARMADILLOS FC made light work of Red Moon to take the win (4-2), after dominating on the field winning 3-1 and having drawn 1-1 in the digital stage.

'The most important thing in phygital is to have a team that is very solid in both digital and physical, and to go game-by-game,' said Rodrigo ULIBARRI Gomez, captain of MÉXICO QUETZALES - ARMADILLOS FC. 'You need to understand that even if you have a really good team, your opponents are likely also well prepared, so you just have to take every game step by step and treat every match as if it is a final.'

As well as Phygital Football powered by ADNOC, the Phygital Basketball.3on3 FreeStyle brought to you by M42 competition saw teams facing off on consoles for seven minutes before taking to a spectacular LED-lit court for a further seven minutes of physical action. In the opening game of the day, Adria All Stars outscored E7 to comfortably win 19-7 in the digital stage, before replicating the same score on the physical court to take the overall victory 38-14.

 

Paulo PAULO Kuseta Captain of Adria All Stars, calling his participation in the Games of the Future 2025 the 'biggest experience of my life so far', he said: 'Playing on this stage means so much to me. We gave 100 percent out there for the team and I'm very proud of us. It's the first game, the opener, so it means a lot. We now want to keep playing like this and bring the same energy against the other teams.'

 

Later in the day, Team Great Brazil battled past Derventa 35-27 after edging the video game match-up 18-14 and 17-13 on the court, while PBC Astana dominated the digital platform beating Bad Boys 19-12 before winning on court 20-12.

 

Nis Hatt, CEO of Phygital International, said: 'The Games of the Future were designed as the ultimate expression of future sport; a global stage where a new format - which this truly is - could be showcased, developed, and taken to the highest level. This event in Abu Dhabi is bringing together athletes from around the world to compete across physical, tech, sports, and esport in a way that reflects how the next generation trains, plays, and connects.'

 

As the sun set, Battle of the Robots drew attention, where clubs' creations fight to the death, Team Fierce Roc - winners of the 2023 BOR Championships - produced a great performance with their undefeated 110kg titan Deep Sea Shark, which knocked out their opponent -- Outlaw's Spitfire -- in just two and a half minutes to make it to the next round. 

 

'I'm very excited to have won, but now I immediately start to get nervous ahead of the next match,' said Luo Yu Chen of Fierce Roc. 'Honestly, I'm prepared for the events and will try my best to win. Let's see.' 

 

The Games of the Future Abu Dhabi 2025 runs until 23 December. More than 850 participants from more than 60 countries are competing across 11 disciplines, combining the excitement of live sport with the strategy, precision, and innovation of digital gameplay, for a multi-million prize pool.

 

Stephane Timpano, CEO at Aspire, said: 'We have to recognize that the new generations have a different way of engaging with sport on a daily basis. We really believe that, in the future, there will be a lot more integration between sport and technology. At Games of The Future we have an extremely diverse selection of phygital sports on display including MMA digital fighters, drone pilots, laser tag fighters, and football and basketball games. So, we are very excited to be at the beginning of this journey and to support the future of this movement.'

 

The competition is organised by ASPIRE, the Local Delivery Authority for the Games of the Future Abu Dhabi 2025, in collaboration with Ethara, the Event Delivery Partner, and Phygital International, the Global Rights Holder. The event is supported by key partners, including Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Ministry of Sports, ADNOC, EDGE, M42, Solutions+, The Galleria, Abu Dhabi Gaming, du Infra, InsuranceMarket.ae, Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Ministry of Sports, Advanced Technology Research Council, and ADNEC Group.