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Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia with a $60 mln prize: All you need to know
Saudi Arabia is gearing up to host its debut
Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh with prize pool of over $60 million in July.
The prize pool is the largest ever in the industry, to be divided into four categories – game championships ($33 million), player bounties ($1 million), qualifiers ($7 million), and a cross-game competitive format club championship ($20 million).
The cross-game event will provide clubs a unique opportunity to try their hand at various games, gather points and divide the total sum based on ranking.
The annual event will be held from July 3 to August 25 at the Riyadh Boulevard City.
The organizers dubbed the event an “elite multi-genre esports competition” which is expected to see over 1500 players with 30 esports clubs across 21 gaming titles.
The initiative was launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in October 2023.
“The competition will enhance our progress towards realizing the Vision 2030 objectives of diversifying the economy, growing the tourism sector, creating new jobs in various industries, and providing world-class entertainment for citizens, residents, and visitors alike,” MBS was quoted as saying at the time.
EWC aims to increase the gaming sector’s contribution to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by more than $ 13.3 billion (SAR50 billion) and create 39,000 new jobs by 2030.
The competition is being held during peak summer months in an effort to boost tourism during hot months.
Saudi Arabia, which is rapidly opening up to tourism, experiences an average 16 percent drop in hotel occupancy rates, an 18 percent decrease in tourism spending and a 13 percent decline in restaurant and cafe spending, according to an estimate reported earlier by the Saudi Press Agency.
Some of the games that will be a part of the event are Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Counter Strike II, FC24, PUBG Battlegrounds, Rocket League, Starcraft II, Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, Rainbow Six Siege, and more.
Visitors can engage with gaming activations, community tournaments, pop culture celebrations, and other international experiences, the organizers said.
KitKat, Adidas, and Sony are some of the partners of the EWC.
Saudi Arabia is greatly investing in sports as a way to wean its economy off oil-dependency. It hopes to host the 2034 FIFA football World Cup and the Olympic Games.
It is set to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, has invested in an international golfing tournament, and is rapidly building a vibrant football community including acquiring global players like Christiano Ronaldo for its national clubs.
National investment vehicles are also heavily investing in online gaming as the global esports market breaks records year after year.
The latest reforms fall under the country’s Vision 2030 goals. Saudi Arabia’s eSports federation was created in 2017, and the number of eSports teams in the Kingdom has since grown from two to more than 100.
Survey findings from 2022 indicate that at least 21 million people -– nearly two-thirds the national population –- consider themselves gamers.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia also hosted another esports festival called Gamers8, with games similar to the EWC, and a prize pool of $45 million.
Esports World Cup boss defends holding event in Saudi Arabia
The boss of the esports World Cup has defended the decision to hold the event in Saudi Arabia.
Hundreds of competitors have gathered in Riyadh to compete in the eight-week tournament for a share of a $60m (£47.1m)-prize pot funded by the Arab country.
But the massive contest has divided players, streamers and fans due to it being held in Saudi Arabia, particularly over its stance on LGBT rights.
Critics say the World Cup is an example of "sportswashing", and the wealthy country is investing heavily in big events to distract from its human rights record.
Esports World Cup founder Ralf Reichert spoke to BBC Newsbeat, saying he wants to reassure LGBT fans and players travelling to the event over concerns about their safety in Saudia Arabia.
"Everyone is welcome," he said, echoing previous statements by the country's sports minister.
"Everyone can participate in the competition and no-one will be discriminated against. That's a promise we can give."
But he added: "In every country in the world, there are different local habits and cultural norms, which you need to adhere to.
"So what we're telling everyone is, don't be explicit.
"Act locally to respect the local culture. And I think that's fair. It's something that happens all over the world."
Some players have refused to take part in the World Cup and other big names in the esports community have opposed the event.
But thousands of fans are still expected to attend in person and many more are due to watch the contests streamed live on YouTube and Twitch.
Ralf, who has 27 years of experience in competitive gaming, says he believes the event will be good for esports.
There's been a downturn in the industry since a boom during the pandemic, with teams and tournaments shutting down due to a lack of funds.
He told Newsbeat he hopes having so many games in one place will bring more fans together.
"We can bring fans from all over the world to unite on one thing and cross-pollinate across all these games", he said.
"Bringing it mainstream, global recognition is probably the unique opportunity we have."
Team Liquid, one of the world's biggest esports teams, is participating in the competition.
On the first day of the tournament players from the team competed in their official rainbow Pride kit to show support for the LGBT community.
Team Liquid CEO Steve Arhancet told BBC Newsbeat that weighing up whether to take part had been "quite the quandary and challenge for us".
"Team Liquid is rooted in values of inclusivity," he said.
"So how do we continue operating with our values in a region of the world that conflicts so strongly, and with pretty egregious human rights violations?"
Steve said the team eventually decided it was important to turn up and use the contest as a platform to show their support for LGBT people.
As a gay man himself, Steve said it's personally important to him and plenty of other gamers.
One in five gamers identifies as LGBT, according to a
recent survey produced by LGBT advocacy group GLAAD and polling company Nielsen.
"Maybe there's some gay or queer gamers that are going to be watching that will see Team Liquid wearing the Pride colours where that representation has never been seen before," Steve said.
It's a view shared by one of the UK's top esports players, Emma, also known as Emzi online.
She won gold for Northern Ireland in eFootball at the Commonwealth esports Championships in 2022.
In her view, it's a shame so many players have chosen to boycott the competition.
"I feel like those are the voices we need there," Emzi said.
"The esports World Cup is going to go ahead whether we like it or not."
As a trans woman, Emma says she thinks it's particularly important for players like her to attend and be seen, even if she's just spectating this time.
"I am the loudest person who shouts about trans rights and LGBT rights" she says.
Emma says the location shouldn't get in the way of the opportunities she thinks will come from the massive new event.
The huge competitive gaming event is under way. But holding it in Saudi Arabia has upset many.
www.bbc.com
variety.com
I give you that, COD 4 multi-player changed the game, I didn’t play it a lot, but next to my college there use to be this games arcade thing and it was full of consoles/screen set-ups where you put in like 50p to £1 and play COD4 co-op, multi-player etc with your mates. Having said that a lot of the folk who loved the multi-player always say how the campaign was equally good for that game and thought I’d try it out. I may try and emulate COD 3 in that case! that has to be the best FPS from the PS2 era potentially.
