Another week, another Saudi Arabia esports partnership in UK esports. This time it’s Saudi entertainment complex ‘giga project’ Qiddiya partnering with Esports Insider’s ESI London event.
Last week it was the British Esports Federation signing a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Esports Federation, which led to community criticism over this, given Saudi’s poor human rights record and treatment of LGBTQ+ people and women.
Qiddiya is a new development that ‘aims to become a vibrant, entertainment, sports and cultural destination in Riyadh’. It promises to include ‘family-friendly theme parks, sports arenas, concerts, racetracks and outdoor and adventure activities’.
The Saudia Arabia Public Investment Fund – which is also the majority owner of Newcastle United Football Club and sole owner of Savvy Games Group (which owns ESL Faceit Group) – is the 100% shareholder of the Qiddiya Investment Company.
Qiddiya is listed alongside tech city NEOM on Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund website as ‘giga projects’. Three years ago, Riot Games’ LEC ended its Saudi partnership with NEOM following community backlash.
Annual esports industry conference ESI London 2023 also features an invite-only Women & Non-Binary Esports Breakfast, with Sportfive, TheGameHers, GirlGamer Esports Festival, Women in Games and Women in Games International.
Panels will be held in the Glowbox space including ‘What is being done to bring women to the forefront of our industry?’ featuring EE and Riot Games.
Another discussion around how brands can disarm toxicity in gaming communities with Ear to the Ground and Unilever will also take place.
Qiddiya joins other partners of the industry event, including the International Esports Federation (IESF) as silver partner of ESI London.
This comes after the IESF’s 2023 World Esports Championship in Romania, with national esports federations including Esports Wales condemning the IESF’s decision to lift sanctions against Russian Esports Federation.
Other partners at ESI London 2023 include HSBC UK and Excel Esports, Canon, Sidequest and more.
Esports News UK is on board as a non-commercial media partner, however this was agreed before we had knowledge of other partners.
Sam Cooke, Managing Director & Co-Founder of ESI, commented: “ESI London continues to be our flagship event, drawing in international speakers and brands who are keen to share their knowledge and drive the industry forward, while also providing a unique backdrop for attendees to build long-lasting relationships.”
More Saudi partnerships in UK esports around the corner, following Qiddiya deal
From what we understand, there are several more Saudi partnerships within UK esports and gaming due to be announced over the coming months, following British Esports’ and ESI London’s deals.
These partnerships come following the UK Department for Business and Trade’s first esports trade mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with several people in the UK esports industry engaging with Saudi.
The news of course comes almost two years after the Saudi acquisition of ESL and Faceit, two of the biggest esports tournament operators, which became the ESL Faceit Group (EFG).
Since then, big Gamers Without Borders and Gamers8 esports tournaments have taken place in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, with millions of pounds in prize pools.
ESI London 2023 speakers and activities
ESI London 2023 will take place on October 19th and 20th at Boxpark Wembley, with its separate ESI Film Festival taking place at Bafta 195 Piccadilly.
This year’s esports industry festival will host over 700 attendees. Speaking of hosting, well-known British esports personality Frankie Ward will be on hosting duties for the event.
There will also be The Clutch, the pitch investment competition, returning, plus networking opportunities. There’s more in our interview with Esports Insider co-founder Sam Cooke here.
Visitors and speakers from the likes of The Football Association, EA Sports, Mercedes-Benz, Twitch, Pringles, Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, Formula E, Tencent, G2 Esports, Fnatic, ESL Faceit Group, Shikenso Analytics, Excel Esports, HSBC and others will be there.
With 80+ speakers across two tracks covering an aggregate of panels, keynotes, showcases and debates, attendees will be able to listen to discussions on the trajectory of the esports industry. Topics include:
- EA Sports FC- A New Era with the Sr. Director & Commissioner of FC Esports and EA Sports
- Uniting brands and creators: Why work together?
- Speakers include the Project Director at Arcade Media (the Sidemen), Global Head of Gaming & XR at Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, UK Community and Content Manager at Logitech G, the Co-Founder or Hashtag United, and the Director of Business Development at Disobey
- Stay in the game: Creator campaigns that pop: A keynote from Pringles EU
- Bringing esports ecosystems to life
- Speakers include the Director of Global Esports at Tencent Games, Associate Director of Esports EMEA at Ubisoft, Head of Major Events & City Experience at and the Head of Esports Product and Executive Producer of Blast Rainbow Six
- Sim Racing- The Grand Plan
- Speakers include Head of Competitive at Rennsport, Gaming Director at Formula E, Head Coach of Esports at Williams Esports and Head of Esports at Mercedes-Benz AMG Petronas Formula One
- Is esports education ready to teach the next generation?
There’s more on some of the ESI London 2023 speakers here.
We’ll be back with an opinion piece on Saudi’s rise in esports soon.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
