Grand finale of world gaming competition takes place amid location’s controversy
The grand finale of the inaugural Esports World Cup takes place today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The global competition has seen 1,500 world-class gamers take to the stage for the last eight weeks.
Usually, esports competitions – where gamers play video games competitively – would focus on one game. This tournament has held competitions in 21 different games like Counter-Strike, Rocket League and Tekken8.
The competition had a record-breaking prize pool of $60m (£43.5m) to be split between the different winners. It was designed to be an attention-grabbing amount, according to the World Cup organisers.
“$60m makes this relevant. Every parent in the world will look at it and say, ‘Okay, then I get it’,” said Ralf Reichert, chief executive of the Esports World Cup to Sky News.
He also pointed out esports is a global sport, and for competitors from poorer countries, winning $200,000 could be “life-changing”.
Local Saudi club Team Falcon won the tournament a week ago because they got so many points, now the teams battle it out for second and third place.
56 UK players have competed in Riyadh, and seven UK clubs – the Apex Racing Team, Fnatic Guild Esports, Man City Esports, Tundra Esports, Williams Esports and Wolves Esports.
But holding the competition in Saudi Arabia sparked controversy because of the kingdom’s human rights record.
“[The Esports World Cup] got a very mixed reception only because of where it is,” said professional gamer and trans woman Emma Rose.
“If it had been anywhere else in the world, it would have been heralded as one of the biggest events to ever come to esports and gaming.”
As well as only hosting one women’s game despite around half of gamers being women, the games were also criticised because of Saudi’s stance on LGBT+ rights.
One in five gamers is thought to be LGBT+, according to a new survey by advocacy group GLAAD and polling company Nielsen.
Some players chose to boycott the games entirely while others wore pride jerseys on stage.
Ms Rose decided not to boycott the games, saying it was important voices like hers and other LGBT+ allies were heard.
“If everyone pulls out, nothing’s going to change and I’m not going to hide my voice. I’m going to actively talk about it and get involved.”
The competition organisers told Sky News everyone attending the World Cup was treated well, regardless of their sexuality. The Saudi Arabian embassy did not reply to a request for comment.
For the teams who did decide to take part, it was an opportunity to show the rest of the world what esports is really about.
Alban Dechelotte runs a team called G2, who he describes as “the Real Madrid of esports” because “we win a lot”.
“Esports have existed for about 20 years and despite the passion, despite the growth, despite the numbers, we are still asked by mainstream audiences, ‘Are you really watching other people play video games?’,” he said.
“I can only hope that these events like the Esports World Cup will [help] an audience that doesn’t care about the game, doesn’t understand the competition, to just get interested.”