Esports World Cup Dates Announced

Published by

James Fudge

2 weeks ago

The Esports World Cup Foundation announced Thursday the official dates for the 2024 Esports World Cup, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this summer. According to a social media post and accompanying video, the Esports World Cup will run for eight weeks—from July 3 – Aug. 25.

While there will be individual competitions for various games with their own separate prize pools in the seven-figure range, the center-piece for organizers is the multi-title club competition, the actual Esports World Cup, which will crown one “Club Champion.” Clubs will compete across 19 games “to find and crown the world’s first Esports World Cup Club Champion.” The Club Championship is described as a “cross-game competitive format unique to the EWC,” which will award a total of $20M USD of the previously announced $60M overall prize pool to the top 16 clubs based on their overall performances.

Those games include Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, EA Sports FC 24, Fortnite (creative), Free Fire, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG Battlegrounds (Battlegrounds Mobile India), PUBG Mobile, ESL R1, Rocket League, StarCraft II, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics, TEKKEN 8, and Rainbow Six Siege.

Many esports organizations that did not previously field rosters to compete in the aforementioned games are being incentivized financially to secure players through the Esports World Cup Program.

Qiddiya City (a multi-billion-dollar Saudi government-backed “city of the future” project) and Sony Group are serving as presenting partners.

The Esports World Cup is funded by the Saudi Arabian government-run sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), though sources tell The Esports Advocate that this funding is disbursed in the same way the government would provide a grant for a major sporting event.

Esports World Cup competitions are being facilitated by ESL FACEIT Group, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group. Savvy is owned by the Saudi government. EFG is home to tournament organizer ESL, competition platform FACEIT, and esports and gaming festival company DreamHack.

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.