Fortnite Joins The Esports World Cup

Fortnite joins the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this July

And, while it has not been formally announced, we expect that a Rocket League competition at the event will be announced soon, as it was part of Gamers8 (the old moniker of the Riyadh-based event) in 2023.

In its announcement on social media, the Saudi Arabian government-backed multi-week gaming and esports festival noted that “no one saw this coming,” but its inclusion is not surprising to us; sources have been telling The Esports Advocate over the last month that ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) and fellow tournament organizer BLAST have been working together more closely in recent months, coordinating events where they are serving a common stakeholder.

The Esports World Cup Foundation said in its brief announcement that it will “create a brand new competitive UEFN Island” specific to the event, though further details on that were not disclosed, as of this writing.

Curiously, this is the first announcement from the Esports World Cup Foundation that features a disclaimer:

“This event is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise associated with, Epic Games, Inc. The information players provide in connection with this event is being provided to event organizer and not Epic Games.”

In January, BLAST announced that it had inked a multi-year deal with Epic Games to handle esports competitions for Rocket League and Fortnite, and it also handles esports for Rainbow Six Siege through a partnership with Ubisoft.

Fortnite joins a growing list of titles that are going to be a part of the Esports World Cup in 2024 including Free Fire, PUBG, PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Brawl Stars, StarCraft II, Overwatch 2, Counter-Strike 2, Honor of Kings and Dota 2, among others. 

The event’s competitions are being facilitated by EFG, which is  a wholly owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group. Savvy is owned by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. EFG is home to tournament organizer ESL, tournament platform FACEIT, and esports and gaming festival company DreamHack. The PIF also funds the Esports World Cup, which is a multi-week competition and gaming festival to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July.