Rocket League Joins the Esports World Cup

Published by

James Fudge

2 months ago

Rocket League joins the Esports World Cup this summer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The Esports World Cup Foundation announced Wednesday that Epic Games’ action racing game, Rocket League, will be a key title at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July.

As we noted in our story on Tuesday about Fortnite and the Esports World Cup, we expected that a Rocket League competition announcement was incoming, as it was part of Gamers8 (the old moniker of the Riyadh-based event) in the summer of 2023 and (sources tell The Esports Advocate) tournament organizer BLAST has been working closely with ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) when it comes to the Esports World Cup and the IPs it has control over.

Like the Fortnite announcement, the Rocket League reveal featured a disclaimer:

“This tournament is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Psyonix, LLC.”

In January, BLAST announced a multi-year deal with Epic Games to operate esports competitions for Rocket League and Fortnite. The company also operates esports for Rainbow Six Siege through a partnership with Ubisoft. All of these titles are part of the Esports World Cup this year.

Rocket League joins a growing list of titles that are going to be a part of the Esports World Cup in 2024 including Fortnite, 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.

Esports World Cup 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.

James Fudge

With a career spanning over two decades in the esports and gaming journalism landscape, James Fudge stands as a seasoned veteran and a pivotal figure in the evolution of esports media. His journey began in 1997 at Game-Wire / Avault, where he curated gaming and community news, laying the groundwork for his expertise in the field. In his more recent roles, James cemented his status as an authority in the esports business sphere as Senior Editor Esports at Sports Business Journal and The Esports Observer between 2018 and 2021.