Did you, the Average Gamer, know that for the last eight weeks an esports tournament had been taking place in Saudi Arabia, billed as the "World Cup" and boasting unprecedented levels of prize money?
I mean, maaaaybe you did, if you are super into esports. But for most of us the world just kept on spinning, the masses seemingly oblivious to the existence of the event at all, let alone the fact it had been going on for so long and costing the Saudis millions in money.
There are a few reasons for this! For starters, this ain't 2017; the esports bubble has well and truly popped, with leagues around the world forced to close and consolidate as advertisers cut back on spending and organisers realise that what once looked an unstoppable commercial juggernaut may have been more of a niche and unprofitable pursuit than anybody had bothered to recognize.
Then, you know, there's Saudi Arabia. The gulf state's soft power grab is a well-read playbook by now, and while some entertainment pursuits--like professional golf--have well and truly rolled over for a share of the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) cash, others, like football, are experiencing frostier times, with Saudi's efforts (including buying big clubs) meeting protests and unease at every turn.
Esports has proved to be no different. Everyone from Richard Lewis to Travis Gifford have raised questions over this event taking place in (and taking millions from) Saudi Arabia, a nation with a terrible human rights record and downright hostile attitudes to LGBTQA+ people (who make up a significant portion of competitive esports viewership!). Organisers have even had to defend the event to places like the BBC.
People did attend, and people did watch it at home, sure, but the event's global reception was a far cry from what organisers must have been hoping for, given the prize money on offer and the "world cup" billing.
During those eight weeks, I got a few emails and messages asking why we hadn't covered it. I can't speak for my colleagues, but I didn't cover it for multiple reasons. Firstly, I don't like esports. Secondly, like I've just spelled out, the whole Saudi thing is gross, so yeah, I had no interest in covering it!
Until I got an email after it concluded from some poor PR company hired to launder the tournament's messaging. It read, in full (emphasis theirs):
Hi there,
Yesterday marked the conclusion of an incredible eight weeks for the inaugural Esports World Cup, where Team Falcons were crowned the first Club Champion at the Closing Ceremony - marking the biggest weekend in esports history.
Team Falcons were awarded $7 million (USD) in life-changing prize money from a prize pool of more than $60 million, alongside the Esports World Cup Championship Trophy, presented to CEO Mossad "Msdossary" Al-Dossary by HRH Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.
In total, the Esports World Cup recorded more than 500 million viewers who consumed over 250 million hours of content, making it the most-watched tournament of 2024, with a peak viewership of 3.5 million during the League of Legends Grand Final.
Following Sunday's awards presentation, winning players were honored in the Celebration of Champions, which featured live performances from international music icons Steve Aoki and Kid Cudi.
Read on for the full press release, alongside quotes from HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan (Chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation), Ralf Reichert (CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation), and Faisal bin Homran (Chief Product Officer of the Esports World Cup Foundation).
Best wishes,
The Esports World Cup team
Every single paragraph of this email included a reason I did not cover this tournament.
Here we were, at the conclusion of eight weeks of competition, and what does the official summary talk about? Money. More money. Some dubious viewership figures, then money again, name-dropping a bunch of guys, then mention of Steve Aoki, a guy whose mindset is so rinsed he's into web3 shit and wellness scams.
Where's the esports? Where's even a single mention of the matches, the suspense, the human drama? There's nothing here about the actual tournament, just a lot of talk about money, and just as we should all judge a person by their actions, you can judge a tournament by what it wants to highlight at the end of it.
The Esports World Cup wasn't about competition. It wasn't even about video games. It was soft power by brute force, speaking the only language big-league esports has ever known: empty bullet points about millions of dollars, as though the prize money is the point, and not the entertainment that precedes it.
Does any of this make the competition a success? Relative to the dollars spent, who knows. In terms of the Saudi royal family flexing their muscles to show who's in charge (professional Overwatch, for example, is awash in Saudi money)? Probably.
But in terms of anything that actually matters--and remember, the money wasn't even the point here, soft power and sports investment is all about the politics and prestige--not even this email could mask the fact the world simply didn't care. Especially when it proudly boasts "the Esports World Cup recorded more than 500 million viewers", which sounds impressive, until they immediately follow it up with "...who consumed over 250 million hours of content". So half an hour each on average, then. For a tournament that went for eight weeks. Sounds about right.
