A video game tournament with a record-breaking prize pool of £51.5 million has kicked off in Saudi Arabia today.
The Esports World Cup (EWC), taking place in Boulevard City, Riyadh, will see 2,000 players and 200 clubs take part in 25 tournaments until August 24. More than 2.6 million people are expected to attend the event.
Hosted in a specially built village with arenas seating up to 2,000 people, the tournament features 24 games, including Call Of Duty, League Of Legends and chess.
The sport constitutes part of the Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to invest in different areas to diversify the kingdom’s GDP and create 39,000 jobs.
The esports industry has been steadily growing in popularity and Saudi Arabia has faced criticism and accusations of “sportswashing” – investing in sporting events like EWC to distract from alleged wrongdoing and present a favourable image.
Multiple stakeholders resigned from the Esports Awards panel after it announced a three-year partnership with EWC in 2024.
But Mike McCabe, the chief operating officer of the Esports World Cup Foundation that runs the competition, said the investment from the kingdom reflected the interests of the Saudi population – with nearly 70% identifying as gamers.
He said: “Sportswashing really implies that we’re trying to change the reputation through sport. It’s just not true. We’re meeting the dreams and the ambitions of the people who live here. The majority of people who live in this country love games and love sports, and so why not give them the biggest show on Earth?
“When it comes to individual choices, we encourage people to come and visit – come and see for yourself.”
Mr McCabe said that EWC was making strides to appeal to a wider, non-gamer audience – with Cristiano Ronaldo as the cup’s ambassador and rapper Post Malone performing at the sold–out opening ceremony on Thursday.
Mr McCabe has been involved in esports since the mid-2000s and said the sport, which started in South Korea, has grown gradually.
He said: “If you look at football or athletics, they’ve grown over hundreds of years.
“Esports is very new in comparison, and it’s growing in a different way.
“The games that people play are the ideas of publishers, which is different from traditional sports, where it’s an international or a sporting federation who ultimately go and maintain that.
“What drew me to this project was because the EWC has the support and the ability to bring multiple games together into one amazing festival that can extend for many weeks and bring fans on multiple journeys during the course of that – it’s really unique in the industry.”
At least 54 UK nationals and two British teams, called Fnatic and Wolves, will be competing over the eight weeks, although that number could rise as there are qualifying events ongoing.
The club championship is a cross-game format that pits international clubs against one another for the largest prize pool in the sport’s history.
Each win grants clubs points and the top-ranked one at the end is crowned the world cup champion.
Ahead of the tournament, the EWC Festival for fans has taken place – with community esports tournaments, anime cafes, cosplay and retro arcades, something Mr McCabe called “a celebration of gaming”.
Fans across the world will be able to tune in on major streaming platforms, including Twitch and YouTube, and by watching live feeds from gaming influencers.
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