More Intel on the Esports World Cup and the Qiddiya Club Program

More information on behind-the-scenes goings on related to esports and Qiddiya City and the Esports World Cup, Image and logo credit: PIF Fund, Esports World Cup Foundation

Over the last several weeks sources familiar with the situation (speaking on background due to concerns for their safety and security) have provided some interesting details on future plans for the Esports World Cup and the Qiddiya City Club Program (The Esports Advocate reached out to representatives of both companies prior to the publication of this story).

Sources tell TEA that the 2024 edition of the Esports World Cup will probably be the biggest one to date and that its scale and scope might be slightly smaller in the future—of course, that doesn’t factor in its plans with the IOC to bring Olympic Esports to the Kingdom in 2025, or its future efforts related to the International Esports Federation and Global Esports Federation. This may have been the plan all along—to start this annual event off with a bang by featuring the biggest names and brands in esports as a way to elevate its status on the international stage—but recently revealed budget constraints, concerns about the nation’s credit rating, and other economic indicators detailed in this story are probably a factor.

Sources are also suggesting that stipends given to teams as part of the Esports World Cup Foundation’s Esports World Cup Club Support Program to field rosters in games this year may be reduced in the years to come or eliminated. While many organizations in the program secured rosters to compete in various games in the club championship (to maximize the number of overall points accrued) portion of the multi-week event, some were quick to drop those rosters the minute their respective competitions were over (or following a poor showing). Sources tell us that the stipends were going to be phased out eventually anyway, but organizations acting in bad faith may accelerate those plans.

Further, some sources we spoke to this week say that the incentives to set up and operate headquarters in Riyadh as part of the Qiddiya Club Program are not high enough for participating organizations to break even, as the cost of opening a shop there is prohibitive. That stipend is somewhere in the neighborhood of between $400K – $600K USD (you can find more details in this report on the Qiddiya Club Program), which sources say is enough to pay for 10 full-time employees, but not much else including sales and/or business development, editors and videographers, social media managers, artists, translators, team managers, and more. One source tells us it would take millions to effectively set up shop in Riyadh.

We detailed in our previous reporting on the Qiddiya Club Program that a lot of things will be subsidized by the government such as office space, housing, broadband, and more, but even with those incentives, many organizations think it would be a money sink to operate out of the region.

Per our previous reporting, the Qiddiya Club Program will accept around 15 organizations in Wave 1, with more to be added and announced in 2025. While all 30 Esports World Cup Club Support Program partners were encouraged to apply, the new incentive program is not exclusive to that group—meaning that organizations outside the program can also apply. Given what is being described to us as prohibitive costs in setting up and running operations in Riyadh, and the amount of the subsidy mentioned earlier, sources say that it would be fairly surprising if any North American organizations ultimately decide to open offices in Saudi Arabia.

While TEA does not have information on the totality of funds and incentives that will be dispersed through the Club Program, we do know how it will be broken down for participants. Prior to the completion of facilities in the actual Qiddiya City, chosen teams will be given “premium office space and esports facilities in Riyadh” in STC Square (from 2025-2027); from 2028-2029, organizations will move from Riyadh to Qiddiya into facilities that they will help custom design with Qiddiya.

There are also concerns that the promised help to secure sponsorships in the Kingdom that could be a way to offset some costs, will likely be with Public Investment Fund-backed companies—furthering the reliance of the Saudi government for making regional offices cost-effective.

Finally, TEA has learned that one of the clauses of the Qiddiya Club Program—that partners can not be involved in other incentive programs—appears to be aimed at government programs such as those that will be offered by esports and gaming initiatives in major cities in the United Arab Emirates such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

On a related note, a report from esports journalist Richard Lewis on Friday detailed what attendees of the Esports World Cup are being told on how to dress and act while in Saudi Arabia.

The Esports World Cup is a multi-week, multi-discipline esports competition running from July 3 – Aug. 25, in Riyadh. The event features a total prize pool of $60M spread across multiple games including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Call of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, EA Sports FC 24, Fortnite, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG Battlegrounds, PUBG Mobile, Rennsport, Rocket League, StarCraft II, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics, TEKKEN 8, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Siege.

The Esports World Cup is funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government, while Qiddiya City is directly owned and funded by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. Esports World Cup competitions and production are being facilitated by ESL FACEIT Group, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group—which in turn is owned by the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund and its Chairman of the board is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and Prime Minister, HRH Crown Prince MBS. EFG is home to tournament organizer ESL, Esports Engine, competition platform FACEIT, and esports and gaming festival company DreamHack.