Electronic Arts (EA) and the Esports World Cup Foundation announced Tuesday that two important competitive events for Apex Legends and EA Sports FC will take place at the Esports World Cup this summer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Midseason Playoffs and the EA Sports FC 25 FC Pro World Championship will both take place at this year’s Esports World Cup 2025. Unlike other titles that are part of the EWC this year, these events are mandatory stops (meaning players who opt out will impact their standings in their respective circuits) for teams/players that qualify. The ALGS Midseason Playoffs are new for 2025 (more details on the ALGS format for 2025 can be found here).
The ALGS Midseason Playoffs are set to take place from July 10-13, featuring 40 of the best teams competing for part of a $2 million USD total prize pool and league points for qualification to the ALGS World Championship.
The FC Pro World Championship will run from Aug. 7-10, with the top EA FC players competing for part of the $1.5 million prize pool, with the tournament winner taking home $250,000.
“The ALGS and FC Pro are two of the most competitive and globally recognised circuits in esports,” said Fabian Scheuermann, chief games officer at the Esports World Cup Foundation. “Together with EA, we’re opening doors for players at every level – from grassroots to elite – to compete on the world’s biggest stage. We’re looking forward to football and esports clubs coming together at the Esports World Cup through FC Pro, and excited to bring ALGS to Riyadh after the incredible response last year. This is the future of esports as a global sport — and we’re just getting started.”
In case you are not familiar with it, the Esports World Cup is an eight-week, multi-title, held on an annual basis during the summer (July to August), and is a replacement for the Saudi Esports Federation’s Gamers8. The event is managed by the Esports World Cup Foundation, a non-profit funded (it claims) by a sports grant from the Saudi government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. The Esports World Cup is operated by ESL FACEIT Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi government-owned gaming and esports company Savvy Games Group—EFG is home to a number of tournament organizers and broadcast production companies, including DreamHack, ESL, FACEIT, and Esports Engine.
Projects backed or owned by the Saudi Arabian government such as Esports World Cup have been criticized for helping the government engage in so-called “sports washing” according to critics, 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.