ByteDance-owned short-form video platform TikTok and the Esports World Cup Foundation announced a partnership on Monday for the Esports World Cup, which officially begins this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and runs until Aug. 25.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Under the terms of this new partnership, TikTok will launch a dedicated EWC Hub within the app, serving as a centralized platform to showcase content from the eight-week competition, from broadcasters, teams, and players. The EWC will also produce “exclusive content tailored for TikTok” that it hopes will “encourage collaborations with popular TikTok creators and foster additional content creation.”
Related to this deal, TikTok will host activities including a weekly show featuring behind-the-scenes reports, live broadcasts from the event featuring top creators, and the introduction of “custom icons and features exclusive to TikTok LIVE for the EWC,” according to a release.
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