Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) announced the launch of the annual Esports World Cup, which will be held in Riyadh starting in the summer of 2024.
The tournament is set to boast the largest prize pool in esports history and will see teams compete across games from various genres to become champion.
In addition to unveiling the Esports World Cup, MBS also announced the establishment of the Esports World Cup Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to increase collaboration between esports stakeholders.
In a recent interview with Fox News, MBS stated his love for video games and the booming esports industry.
When asked about what activities he does to blow off steam, and what he has fun doing, MBS said with a smile, “Video games. Since I was a kid, I love it.” He even said video games help him disconnect from reality. His favorite game is known to be Call of Duty.
MBS has spent almost $8bn acquiring and building stakes in gaming companies across the globe as part of a turbocharged investment spree with the aim of becoming a dominant force in the growing entertainment industry, well-informed sources revealed.
Saudi Arabia’s interest in gaming and eSports comes from the very top, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said to be an avid “Call of Duty” player.
Group, which acquired top eSports firms ESL Gaming and FACEIT in deals reportedly worth a total of $1.5 billion.
Next year, Riyadh will host the Global Esports Games, billed as the world’s “flagship” competitive eSports event.
Despite the domestic and global difficult economic crisis and its involvement in Yemen’s war, Saudi Crown Prince MBS spent an insane amount of money in one game or company’s ecosystem.
Dot eSports revealed that MBS was one of the biggest spenders, affirming that he has already spent more than $6,000 on The International 2020 Battle Pass.
Over the last three years, he spent a combined $69,494 and counting on the Battle Pass alone, with $42,100 of that coming from 2018. He has been the top contributor in each of those years and set a record by reaching Level 175,000 in 2017.
MBS has been active on Dota since 2011 and has played over 10,000 matches in Dota, totaling a 5,772-5,467 win/loss record—a 51-percent win rate.
His play-time is private, but at the time of recording, they had put 9,046 hours into Dota, along with nearly 550 hours into Team Fortress 2.
MBS was widely named as the “Gamer Prince” after hosting the international eSport gamers forum “Next World” this month.
Much like with Formula One and professional golf, the world’s biggest oil exporter has in recent years leveraged its immense wealth to assert itself on the eSports stage, hosting glitzy conferences and snapping up established tournament organisers.
