The Esports World Cup Foundation has raised the total prize for the Esports World Cup to more than $70 million USD, the organization announced Thursday. The Esports World Cup 2025 (EWC) will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and runs from July 7 to Aug. 24. The Esports World Cup is funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, and is operated by Savvy Games Group (also owned by the Saudi Arabian government) subsidiary ESL FACEIT Group.
“The record-breaking $70+ million prize pool, along with our commitment to the Club Partner Program and our multi-year publisher agreements, is a privilege to announce and validation of our purpose to elevate the industry, by giving players, clubs, publishers and all other stakeholders the stability needed to invest for future success,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation. “While more than $70 million is an incredible, life-changing sum, it’s always aligned with a long-term vision rather than short-term impact. It’s not just to have more money at stake, but to create opportunities for everyone at every level of the ecosystem, and strengthen the industry for generations to come.”
That prize pool will be divided amongst 25 competitions featuring 24 games, with a portion of it also going to an overall Club Championship. Around $27 million will go to the top 16 Clubs based on their overall performance (across multiple titles), with $7 million for the 2025 Club Championship winner. The rest of that money will go towards individual game championships ($38 million), MVP awards ($450,000), and Qualifiers on the “Road to EWC” ($5 million). Team Falcons won the 2024 Club Championship, with Team Liquid coming in second place and Team BDS securing third place.
Organizers claim the 2024 event attracted over 500 million online viewers and 2.6 million visitors to Riyadh’s Boulevard City.
Competitive titles for EWC 2025 include Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: Warzone, Chess, Counter-Strike 2, Crossfire, Dota 2, EA Sports FC 25, FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG BATTLEGROUNDS, PUBG Mobile, Rainbow Six Siege X, Rennsport, Rocket League, Starcraft II, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics, and Valorant.
Forty teams joined the Esports World Cup Club Partner Program including 100 Thieves, All Gamers, Bilibili Gaming, Cloud9, Edward Gaming, EVOS, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, FURIA, G2 Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, Gen.G, Gentle Mates, HEROIC, JD Gaming, Karmine Corp., Movistar KOI, LEVIATAN, LOUD, MOUZ, NAVI, NIP.eStar, ONIC, POWR, REJECT, S8UL, Sentinels, T1, Team BDS, Team Falcons, Team Liquid, Team RRQ, Team Secret, Team Spirit, Team Vitality, Twisted Minds, Virtus.pro, Weibo Gaming, Wolves Esports, and ZETA DIVISION. Some clubs have already vigorously began advertising the event on social media and on other platforms; unfortunately a majority of them are not disclosing that their promotion is part of a overall partner program that they are receiving compensation for, which violates laws in multiple jurisdictions in the European Union, in Canada, and the United States—just like they did last year leading up to the summer event.
Finally, the New Global Sport Conference, the industry leaning conference aimed at the esports, gaming, entertainment, and sports industries, will take place in Riyadh from Aug. 23-24, following the close of the Esports World Cup.
Projects backed or owned by the Saudi Arabian government such as Esports World Cup have long been criticized for helping the government engage in “sports washing,” or using various forms of sport and entertainment to cover up its record on human rights, women’s rights, LGTBQ+ rights, military actions in Yemen, and more. These and other criticisms have been highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.