The Esports World Cup Foundation announced that Valve’s tactical team-based shooter Counter-Strike 2 will return as a competitive title in the Esports World Cup—its eight-week-long esports competition to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, sometime in the summer of 2025.
Ubisoft’ tactical, team-based shooter Rainbow Six Siege was announced as a returning title on Thursday in a separate announcement.
Other titles officially confirmed for the 2025 Esports World Cup include Ubisoft’s aforementioned tactical Rainbow Six Siege, Valve’s other popular game Dota 2, Capcom’s Street Fighter 6, SEA LTD’s popular PC and mobile battle royal game Free Fire, Tencent’s MOBA Honor of Kings, and Activision Blizzard’s first-person shooters Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Call of Duty Warzone.
Like Dota 2, tournament organizer ESL FACEIT Group (which helps facilitate the Esports World Cup) runs a Valve-sanctioned circuit for Counter-Strike 2, so it will be interesting to see if it makes Riyadh an official stop for a Majors-level event on its calendar.
During the 2024 competition the Esports World Cup Foundation offered a prize pool of around $1M USD, the majority of which was one by Natus Vincere (NAVI), who beat out FaZe Clan in the Quarterfinals, MOUZ in the Semifinals, and G2 Esports in the Grand Finals.
The Esports World Cup Foundation describes itself as a non-profit that is funded by a sports grant from the Saudi Government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. The competition is facilitated through its close working relationships and ties to government-owned entities such as the Saudi Esports Federation, Savvy Games Group, and its subsidiary ESL FACEIT Group (which facilitated many aspects of the eight-week event last year).
ESL FACEIT Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group—which in turn is owned by the PIF and led by Chairman of the board and 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.