Samsung hosted the #PlayGalaxy Cup World Final from Aug. 27–28 at its booth during Gamescom 2026, which was held at Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany, from Aug. 26–30. The event concluded a full-season mobile gaming league designed to showcase the performance of Galaxy smartphones.
PlayGalaxy Cup World Final highlights
Samsung staged the World Final after regional qualifiers across five regions — North America, Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe. Thirty-two teams from 17 countries competed for a place in the final stage; the top two teams from each region advanced, producing a field of 10 teams from nine countries at Gamescom.
“This year was the first time the #PlayGalaxy Cup was held as a full-season tournament, and we’ve witnessed thrilling competition from start to finish,” said David Moon, Head of Influencer Marketing, Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is thrilled to have brought gamers from all over the world together to experience the powerful performance of Galaxy S26 Ultra.”
Finalists competed over two days for the championship. All World Final matches were played on Galaxy S26 Ultra devices; Samsung said the phones’ processing performance and optimized thermal management enabled high-intensity matches with stable, immersive gameplay.
The final was won by the Malaysian team. The event was hosted and livestreamed worldwide on YouTube by streamer Ludwig, drawing a total of 12.1 million views. Members San Gaming, VRT1CAA, ADIKBOY and ACAD of the Malaysian team were photographed celebrating after their victory.
At its Gamescom booth Samsung also operated a dedicated Galaxy experience zone where visitors could try the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra. Through partnerships with HoYoverse, TiMi Studio and Gameloft, attendees could experience a variety of popular game titles across Galaxy devices.
