Around 1,500 of the world’s top gaming champions will converge on the Saudi Arabian capital for the eight-week championship.
by Mickey Carroll, science and technology reporter
Wednesday, July 3, 2024 14:12 UK
The world’s biggest gaming championship kicks off today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Around 1,500 global esports champions will descend on the Boulevard City to compete over eight weeks for a record-breaking prize pool of $60 million (£47 million).
“The Esports World Cup is a key moment in the history of esports,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation.
“This is a historic coming together of two universal languages - gaming and sports – that will unite the global community beyond gaming and transcend the esports industry, catalyzing growth across the entire ecosystem.”
During the tournament, gamers will compete in 21 popular games, including Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, League of Legends and Fortnite.
“There is nothing comparable, no sports tournament like this in the world of esports,” George Osborne, author of a video games industry memo, told Sky News.
Record-breaking prize money
The winner of the tournament will share an unprecedented $60 million (£47.2 million) prize pool.
Osborne said the huge prize money comes at the perfect time.
“We are going through what has been described as the ‘winter of esports,'” he said.
“Esports organizations have seen layoffs, teams shut down and tournaments canceled,” Osborne said.
Part of the World Cup prize money will go to clubs that perform well throughout the tournament, not just if their teams perform well in individual matches.
“The tournament has such a large prize pool and is deliberately […] Supporting clubs are a key source of funding for these organisations at the time and will be extremely important in the ecosystem.”
The lavish opening ceremony featured live appearances from influencers Tyler1 and Britain’s Danny Aarons, as well as fireworks and a drone show over Riyadh.
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According to the Esports World Cup Foundation, the city is expected to be transformed into a “joyful gaming fest” for eight weeks.
If you’ve never watched esports before, where do you start?
With 21 games across eight weeks, it can be hard to know where to start, so for those new to esports, Osborne suggests watching some Rocket League action.
“Rocket League is essentially soccer with cars,” he said.
“Each team will play a five-minute match. Each team will have three cars. [and you] There are individual players, they form part of a bigger team, they can score great goals but also make terrible mistakes. It’s fast and it’s frantic.”
Esports is becoming an increasingly mainstream industry: An estimated 197 million people identified themselves as esports enthusiasts in 2019, according to gaming and esports data company Newzoo. That number is expected to grow to 285.7 million this year.