H3CZ and Scump Headline The Esports Awards

Published by

James Fudge

4 weeks ago

Scump and H3CZ headline The Esports Awards in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The Esports Awards announced Wednesday the line-up of esports personalities and content creators that will headline the 2024 awards ceremony taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 24.

The most notable names are OpTic Texas President Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez and former Call of Duty player and content creator Seth “Scump” Abner. In November, The Esports Advocate reported that Scump advertised the Esports World Cup ahead of its official start in July during several streams. During a YouTube short, he noted: “… and maybe they’ll invite me… The biggest esports event in history, you know that sounds pretty enticing. I might have to show up.”

At around the same time, Scump and H3CZ also talked up the Esports World Cup during a podcast, with H3CZ saying that Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, HRH Crown Prince MBS, had a “kind face.”

Other high-profile names in attendance include esports caster Chris Puckett, content creator Bander “BenderitaX” Madkhali, Brazilian Counter-Strike 2 pro Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, and British-South African YouTuber and investor Casper Lee, Elyse “Herculyse” Herrera, Daniel “dGon” Gonzalez, Mira “Ephey” Riad, Oliver “OJ Borg” James Borg D’Anastasi, Jessica “JessGOAT” Bolden, and Britanni Johnson.

The Esports Awards will be hosted in Riyadh for the next three years, following a strategic partnership between the organization and the Saudi government-funded Esports World Cup Foundation.

The Esports Awards Riyadh ceremony schedule is as follows:

18:00 CEST – Countdown Show
19:00 CEST – Red Carpet opens
20:30 CEST – Pre-Show begins
21:00 CEST – Main Ceremony begins

The Esports Awards will be streamed live from the Four Seasons Kingdom Centre in Riyadh on Aug. 24, starting at 21:00 CEST across Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.

The Esports World Cup and Esports World Cup Foundation are 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—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 HRH Crown Prince MBS.

The Saudi Arabian government has been under fire for what critics call “sports washing,” or using sports and other forms of entertainment as a cover for its record on human rights, women’s rights, and military actions in Yemen, among other things, highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

HRH Crown Prince MBS is non-pulsed by the “sports washing” label, noting in a 2023 interview with Fox News: “If sportswashing (is) going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we’ll continue doing sportswashing.”

Editor’s note: The Esports Advocate has taken a position on accepting any Esports Award this year and beyond. Here is our official stance:

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.