Saudi Arabia has big plans for next year’s Esports World Cup

Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, said today the country will organize an annual Esports World Cup starting in 2024.

The Esports World Cup was announced during The New Global Sport Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and will replace the Gamers8 event, which took place earlier this year and had a total prize pool of over $45 million distributed across multiple esports tournaments.

Saudi Arabia has made a big push into esports and gaming in the past few years—including the creation of a new futuristic city in the form of NEOM—which many believe to be a government effort to cleanse the country’s image in the rest of the world. Saudi Arabia is known in the West for its poor human rights record and anti-LGBTQ+ laws, for example. The same effort has been put into traditional sports and specialists dubbed the strategy “sportswashing”

Mohammed bin Salman, though, said the Esports World Cup is a “natural next step” for Saudi Arabia to become the “global premier hub” for gaming and esports.

“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,” Mohammed bin Salman said.

On top of the announcement of the Esports World Cup, Saudi Arabia also announced the creation of the Esports World Cup Foundation, which aims to make a “long-term impact” in the gaming ecosystem. Ralf Reichert, ESL FACEIT’s chairman, has been named the CEO of the foundation.

Though the list of games for the Esports World Cup hasn’t been revealed yet, it’s expected to feature many major esports titles. The Esports Advocate reported that big organizations like G2, Vitality, NiP, 100 Thieves, Guild, LGD, and Falcons are committed to attending the Esports World Cup and that big publishers like Ubisoft and Take-Two Interactive attended The New Global Sport Conference. More details should be revealed in the coming weeks.