Esports World Cup

The Esports World Cup is a tournament that aims to elevate the gaming and electronic sports sector globally. It was announced by Crown Prince and Prime Minister His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in October 2023. The annual event will be hosted in the capital, Riyadh, starting in the summer of 2024.

The Crown Prince stated that the Esports World Cup tournament is the natural next step in Saudi Arabia's journey to becoming the number one global hub for gaming and esports, offering an unparalleled experience that exceeds the norm in the industry. He emphasized that the tournament "will contribute to strengthening our commitment to achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, including diversifying the economy, enhancing the tourism sector, creating job opportunities across various sectors, and providing high-level entertainment for citizens, residents, and visitors alike."

The first edition saw Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman crown the Saudi team, Falcons, as the Esports World Cup champions, awarding them the first-place prize of USD7 million.

The Esports World Cup, which brings together the gaming and esports community—including players, fans, game developers, and publishers—is a global platform supporting the growth of the esports industry. Featuring a distinctive multi-game, multi-category format, the tournament hosts top clubs and strengthens the efforts of various entities in Saudi Arabia and worldwide to advance esports. It redefines its positive impact on societies, promotes cultural exchange, and encourages brands to adopt esports as a promising and essential investment sector.

The gaming and esports sector is one of the fastest-growing industries globally, with the global market valued at approximately USD200 billion according to the latest 2023 statistics. This success builds on the major events hosted by Saudi Arabia, reinforcing its position as a global destination, including the announcement of hosting the Esports Olympic Games in 2025, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s commitment to developing this promising sector. These initiatives align with Saudi Vision 2030 objectives to diversify the economy, enhance tourism, and provide high-quality entertainment for citizens, residents, and visitors alike. They also support the Gaming and Esports Sector Strategy, launched by the Crown Prince on September 15, 2022, which focuses on innovating local games to feature among the world’s top titles, providing infrastructure to develop local talent, and producing games that promote Saudi and Arab culture. These initiatives reflect Saudi Arabia's interest in the sector, its potential to attract global investors, and its contributions to economic, social, cultural, and entertainment outcomes.

Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of the Esports World Cup Foundation, a non-profit organization responsible for organizing the tournament. This foundation aims to foster new levels of cooperation among all partners and parties concerned with the gaming and esports ecosystem.

The Esports World Cup features the most popular games worldwide and offers the largest prize pool in the history of esports, amounting to USD60 million. The tournament adopts an innovative format to crown the best club globally across all participating titles. Saudi Arabia’s launch of the Esports World Cup follows the success of the first two editions of Gamers8, particularly given that the majority of the Saudi population is youth.

In the presence of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the first edition of the Esports World Cup concluded in Riyadh, where the Crown Prince crowned the Saudi team Falcons as world champions. The team emerged victorious among nearly five hundred teams and 1,500 professional players from around the world, winning a prize of USD7 million from a total prize pool of over USD60 million, the largest in esports history. Falcons topped the rankings with 5,665 points earned across twelve tournaments, including first-place victories in Call of Duty: Warzone and Free Fire.

The Esports World Cup, which spanned eight weeks, achieved record-breaking figures on multiple levels in 2024. The tournament welcomed over one million visitors and contributed to a more than 29 percent increase in visitors to Riyadh during the event compared to the previous year. More than thirty-two entertainment and cultural events accompanied the tournament. Additionally, its events were watched by over 500 million viewers, totaling more than 250 million hours of viewing, marking the highest global record in the esports sector.

The Esports World Cup 2024 contributed to Saudi Arabia’s commitment to achieving the objectives of Vision 2030, diversifying the economy, boosting the tourism sector, creating opportunities, and providing high-quality entertainment for citizens, residents, and visitors. The tournament serves as a key driver in advancing the strategic goals of the gaming and esports sector, contributing to an estimated SAR50 billion to the national GDP by 2030, creating 39,000 new jobs, and positioning Riyadh as a hub for esports.

The tournament was held in indoor arenas and accompanied by multiple activities and events, attracting a new segment of visitors interested in the esports sector and stimulating Riyadh’s tourism during the summer. This helped mitigate typical summer declines, such as a 16 percent drop in hospitality occupancy, an 18 percent decrease in tourism spending, a 13 percent reduction in restaurant and café spending, and a 9 percent decrease in general consumer spending, providing an opportunity to offset the usual summer downturn.

The Esports World Cup 2025 is considered the most prominent edition globally. The seven-week tournament featured extensive participation from clubs and players representing countries worldwide, with unprecedented audience and media coverage. A total of two thousand professional players competed across two hundred clubs from one hundred countries in twenty-five tournaments, representing the most popular esports titles worldwide.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman crowned the Saudi Falcons team as champions of the Esports World Cup 2025 after they topped the tournament rankings with 5,200 points. The team won the grand prize of USD7 million from a total prize pool exceeding USD70 million, marking the largest prize total in the history of the global esports sector.

By hosting the Esports World Cup 2025, Saudi Arabia strengthened its global leadership in the gaming and esports sector, offering a unique experience that combined competition and innovation. The tournament significantly boosted performance indicators, with ticket sales increasing by 53 percent, average demand for content rising by 40 percent, and international sales growing by 64 percent. Competitions were broadcast in thirty-five languages to over one hundred countries, showcasing the scale of organization and level of attendance through global media production. The Boulevard Riyadh City area welcomed over three million visitors during the tournament, while digital platforms attracted more than 750 million viewers worldwide, totaling over 350 million hours of watch time. The accompanying events included over 1,500 social, cultural, and entertainment activities, enriching the overall experience and adding a human and interactive dimension to the event.