GameSquare Holdings (NASDAQ:GAME) announced Wednesday that its wholly owned subsidiary Stream Hatchet has been named the official data and insights partner for the 2025 Esports World Cup.
Financial terms of the deal with the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) were not disclosed.
Stream Hatchet replaces the 2024 Esports World Cup partner, Esports Charts, in this new partnership.
Under the terms of this new deal, Stream Hatchet will provide EWCF with real-time analytics, performance dashboards, and tailored insights, according to the announcement. EWCF, Stream Hatchet, and GameSquare will also work together on “coordinate media outreach, social campaigns, and ongoing data releases before and during the tournament,” and provide “exclusive insights” to select press outlets “throughout the summer competition window.”
“Partnering with the Esports World Cup is a defining moment for Stream Hatchet,” said Eduard Montserrat, CEO of Stream Hatchet. “We’re proud to help raise the bar for data transparency and empower stakeholders with meaningful insights throughout the competition. Our tools will ensure the world is watching and understanding the action in real time.”
This deal follows announcement earlier this week that the EWCF had partnered with Lenovo, stc Group, and Aramco.
If you are not familiar with it, the Esports World Cup is a seven week, multi-title competition hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, featuring an overall prize pool of more than $70 million USD. The competition is funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund and operated in cooperation with ESL FACEIT Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi government-owned gaming and esports company Savvy Games Group. The 2025 edition runs from July 7 – Aug. 24, and will be followed by the business conference, the New Global Sport Conference (NGSC2025), on Aug. 23 – 24, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh.
Projects backed or owned by the Saudi Arabian government such as Esports World Cup are criticized for helping the government engage in “sports washing,” or using various forms of 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.