Saudi Arabia to host the 2024 eSports World Cup

Saudi Arabia will host the eSports World Cup in 2024. This comes as incredible news for the Middle Eastern hub to boost the efforts of the gaming and eSports sector.  The initiative is backed by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This Prince is notably known to be an avid gamer. 

Saudi Esports

The country has made significant investments in the gaming industry, including a $38 million billion dollar investment in the Savvy Games Group. The main aim for Saudi Arabia is to create 39,000 eSports-related jobs by 2030. The Kingdom intends to become a hub for game developers. Significantly, Saud Arabia’s efforts are to encourage the production of titles that further the nation’s main goal of promoting its overall culture. According to their national eSports strategy, the target is set at 30 globally competitive games produced in domestic studios by 2030.

New beginnings

The inaugural edition of the eSports World Cup is expected in the summer, replacing the eight-week Gamers8 festival of eSports tournaments. This tournament’s prize pool just this year totalled $45 million, such a success in fact it prompted this statement from Ralf Reichert:

“You can look at Gamers8 as a dry run for the eSports World Cup.”

Reichert will head the newly formed eSports World Cup Foundation as CEO.

Tourism in the Arabian Kingdom

Saudi Arabia currently suffers from a large falloff in the tourism sector during the summer months when temperatures in the capital Riyadh regularly soar to well above 40 degrees Celsius on a daily basis. It is hoped that the establishment of the much-anticipated tournament will improve this situation dramatically with a statement from the organisers reading: 

“Will be complemented with a diversified set of activities and events that will draw visitors and tourists to the capital, transforming it into a gaming capital. As they come to Riyadh maybe it might be quiet in Riyadh relatively, but the destination is very busy,”

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