Moist Esports cite Saudi LGBTQ laws, skip $2 million Rocket League event

Moist Esports, the RLCS Spring Major champions, are not attending Gamers8, a $2 million Rocket League tournament, set to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, next week the team announced Friday. Moist were one of the invited European teams for Gamers8 and considered the favorite to win it all after their RLCS Spring Major victory on Sunday. However, coach Noah “noah” Hinder announced on Twitter that the team will not be going because he “will not be associating with a country that does not recognise LGBTQ+ people as human beings.”

Moist Esports will not be attending the GWB Lan in Saudi Arabia. To simply put it i will not be associating with a country that does not recognise LGBTQ+ people as human beings.

I think it’s important to put my morals and beliefs over money

— noah (@nzeroah) July 8, 2022

With a $2 million prize pool, Gamers8 is set to be the Rocket League event with the largest prize pool to date, only to be beaten by the RLCS World Championships taking place several weeks later. However, as the event is funded by the Saudi government, Moist decided not to go. “I think it’s important to put my morals and beliefs over money,” noah tweeted. Moist Esports’ owner, content creator Charlie “moistcr1tikal” White, had previously also said they are not going after being asked on his watch party stream during the RLCS Spring Major. However, it wasn’t until noah revealed that the team is not attending that Moist withdrew from the tournament. Teammate Finlay “rise.” Ferguson shared his thoughts on Twitter as well, saying he would have liked to play but wanted to respect noah’s wishes. Instead, Moist will focus on Worlds, set to be in Fort Worth, Texas, on Aug. 8-14, where they will continue to be one of the favorites to win it all.

Tbh i really wanted to attend GWB. However,seeing how much this meant to noah changed my mind,we're just gonna focus on worlds and do our best there.Sorry if you wanted to see us in Riyadh but hopefully we can give you a good performance at worlds <3 https://t.co/9ZNT2PpX6R

— rise. (@riseRL_) July 8, 2022

  Gamers8 is set to run from July 14-17 with various teams from across the world, some invited, some qualified. Moist’s replacement has not yet been announced, but with three European invitees, a new European team is expected to be invited. The tournament will also employ an unusual format, where 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 are all part of a series.