The Esports World Cup Foundation and government-owned petroleum and natural gas company Aramco announced a strategic partnership that will see the company sponsor the Esports World Cup, set to take place starting this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As the official title partner of the Aramco SIM Arena, Aramco will support a simulator zone where racing fans can compete in community tournaments during the Esports World Cup.
The Aramco SIM Arena gives users access to simulators that EWCF claims “provide an experience akin to driving an F1 car.” This expanded partnership builds on Aramco’s previous sponsorships of Gamers Without Borders (a gaming-focused charity event) and Gamers8: The Land of Heroes festival (the previous name of the Esports World Cup in 2023).
The Esports World Cup is a multi-week, multi-discipline esports competition running from July 3 – Aug. 25, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government, while 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’s Public Investment Fund and its Chairman of the board is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler HRH Crown Prince MBS. EFG is home to tournament organizer ESL, Esports Engine, competition platform FACEIT, and esports and gaming festival company DreamHack.
This week’s schedule (Week 1) will feature the following games:
Call of Duty: Warzone Teams:
- AG Global
- Al Ula
- BSL
- Cloud9
- Fnatic
- Gaimin Gladiators
- Guild Esports
- Natus Vincere
- New Icons
- OMiT
- Onyx Ravens
- SGP Syndicate
- Team abWizz
- Team Destroy
- Team Falcons
- Team Heretics
- Team iZund
- Team Vision
- Team Vitality
- Team xizx7
- Twisted Minds
Dota 2 (Riyadh Masters) Teams:
- Aurora
- Azure Ray
- Beastcoast
- BetBoom Team
- Blacklist International
- Entity
- G2 x iG
- Gaimin Gladiators
- HEROIC
- LGD Gaming
- MOUZ
- Nouns
- OG Esports
- PSG Quest
- Team Falcons
- Team Liquid
- Team Spirit
- Tundra Esports
- Virtus.pro
- WBG.XG
League of Legends Teams:
- Bilibili Gaming
- FlyQuest
- Fnatic
- G2 Esports
- Gen.G
- T1
- Team Liquid Honda
- Top Esports
ML:BB Teams:
- Brute Force
- Cloud9
- Entity7
- EVOS Glory
- Falcon Esports
- Falcons
- AP.Bren
- Fire Flux Esports
- Fnatic ONIC
- HomeBois
- IHC Esports
- KeepBest Gaming
- Liquid Echo
- NIP Flash
- RRQ Akira
- S2G Esports
- See You Soon
- Selangor Red Giants
- Team Falcons
- Team Spirit
- Trained to Kill
- Twisted Minds
- Xianyou Gaming
- Zino Zenith