This summer, the esports world will experience the first edition of the Esports World Cup sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government.
Esports World Cup was officially announced in October 2023 by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, with a clear aim at making the Kingdom the premier global hub for gaming and esports. Last year’s Gamers8 Riyadh Masters was only a preface of what Saudi Arabia had planned for 2024.
The inaugural edition of Esports World Cup, which will be running across eight weeks this summer in Riyadh, will boast an over $60,000 prize pool split among 20 distinct tournaments across 19 competitive titles.
“The sizable reward represents a significant step forward in the Esport World Cup Foundation’s effort to grow the global esports industry while providing more sustainable career options for competitive players and multidisciplinary esports Clubs,” reads the official announcement. “It will also help support the EWC as a platform that draws the best players, teams and organizations together for an international celebration of esports excellence and fandom.”
Esports World Cup prize pool distribution
Out of the $60,000,000 prize pool, 20 million are going towards the “The Club Championship” which awards the top 16 organisations based on their overall performance in EWC. This encourages the organisations to field teams and sign players in as many competitive games as possible and it’s directly connected to the Esports World Cup Foundation initiative from earlier this year of launching a support program for esports organisations.
Over $30,000,000 are allocated to the game championships that will be held for Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, StarCraft II, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG Battlegrounds, PUBG MOBILE, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, RENNSPORT, Rocket League, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics and TEKKEN 8, Apex Legends, EA Sports FC 24, Fortnite, Free Fire, and Honor of Kings, with a few more titles to be announced soon.
In addition, a $50,000 MVP prize will be awarded to a standout participant in each competition.
More than $7,000,000 will be awarded even before the offline competitions will start in Riyadh this summer as the sum is allocated to the regional qualifiers for the Esports World Cup.
The Esports World Cup will provide an enabling environment for the growth and sustainability of players, clubs, and the sector overall. It is also planned as a key attraction to help bolster Saudi tourism during the summer. This opportunity is significant since Saudi experiences an average 16% drop-in hotel occupancy rates, an 18% decrease in tourism spending, a 13% drop in restaurant & cafe spending, and a 9% drop in consumer purchasing power during the summer.
The exact dates for each competition are yet to be announced along with the prize pool distributions per game title, so stay tuned for more news to come about the first edition of Esports World Cup!
