The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has today celebrated the start of the 2024 Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia, with its opening ceremony.
Held at Boulevard City in Riyadh, the show featured popular content creators on the broadcast – American League of Legends streamer Tyler1 and English YouTuber Danny Aarons – with South African broadcast talent Quickshot hosting. He was recently announced shortly after the League of Legends Esports World Cup casters were listed, with that LoL tournament starting on Thursday July 4th.
1,500 of the world’s best esports players — representing 60+ nationalities — will compete across 22 competitions in 21 games until August 25th at Boulevard Riyadh City, with a prize pool of $60m+.
The Warzone tournament has begun, with UK player and streamer Jukeyz out in Riyadh for it, among others.
You can see the full Esports World Cup games list and prize pool here.
$20 million of the total prize pool is reserved for the Club Championship, a cross-game format that rewards the top 16 clubs based on their overall performance. At the event’s conclusion, the club with the best performance across various game championships will be crowned the world’s first Esports World Cup Club Champion.
Three UK-based esports orgs are a part of the EWCF Club Support Program: Tundra, Guild and Fnatic.
The launch also showed off the event’s official trophy.
A festival will also take place throughout the event, with attendees experiencing gaming activations, community tournaments, pop culture celebrations, concerts and international experiences.
Companies involved with the EWCF to support the 2024 Esports World Cup includes Adidas, Amazon, Aramco, Axe, Barn’s Coffee, Clear, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, Honor, KitKat, LG, Mastercard, Mentos, PepsiCo, Qiddiya City, Sony, stc and TikTok, with other partners to be announced.
HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, Chairman, Saudi Esports Federation, said: “The Esports World Cup is the realisation of a vision to bring esports players, fans, publishers, and wider audiences together for a spectacle that propels esports – the new global sport – on a trajectory even more empowering, exciting, and opportunistic for all.
“Already, this event has captured the interest and imagination of the global gaming and esports community. And looking ahead, we cannot wait to watch the influence and impact of this year’s first edition unfold over the coming weeks. Without question, the Esports World Cup will deliver something special, the likes of which have never been witnessed, until now. It’s going to be an incredible summer.”
“The Esports World Cup is a major moment in esports history,” added Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation.
“It’s a historic culmination of two universal languages, gaming and sports, to unite the global community across games, leapfrog the esports industry and drive growth across the entire ecosystem.”
Ralf Reichert, Esports World Cup Foundation
“I’m immensely proud that we’ve created new possibilities for our sport and I am very excited to watch elite esports clubs and players compete across the world’s best games for life-changing prizes and crown the first Esports World Cup Club Champion.”
Faisal bin Homran, Chief Product Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation, commented: “There are 3.4 billion gamers in the world today and, with the Esports World Cup finally here, we share their anticipation, enthusiasm, and excitement for the sensational summer ahead of us.
“The coming eight weeks will transform the gaming and esports landscape like never before – and the entire world is invited to witness, embrace, and enjoy this historic, era-defining spectacle. With the greatest esports players and clubs on earth all vying for life-changing prizes across the world’s leading games, the Esports World Cup will absolutely fulfill its promise of being a global celebration of competitive excellence and esports fandom.”
The tournament starts amidst ongoing debate and push-back from some of the community around Saudi’s human rights record.
Related article: Navigating through Saudi Arabia’s continued rise in esports and why it’s okay to feel conflicted
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.
