Esports World Cup 2025 Begins in Riyadh, Offering Record-Breaking $70 Million Prize Pool

The 2025 Esports World Cup has officially begun in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the second time the event has been run following last year's EWC. Dubbed the world's largest gaming and esports festival, the EWC features 2000 players, from the top 200 global esports organisations, completing across 24 games. Each team will be competing for a share of the record-breaking $70 million prize pool, including the $7 million grand prize for the EWC Club Champion.

The start of the event was marked by the opening press conference, where HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, Chairman, Saudi Esports Federation, shared a few words on the significance of the EWC, and shared his own personal history with gaming: "We’re immensely proud to welcome the world back to Riyadh for the Esports World Cup - an event that showcases the scale, ambition, and future of esports and gaming. This is a pivotal moment that will shape the direction of the industry for years to come.

Hosting the EWC reflects our commitment to building a sustainable, world-class esports ecosystem. It demonstrates our belief in gaming as a force to connect, inspire, and create opportunity, while advancing our broader goals under Vision 2030 and the National Gaming and Esports Strategy. Esports is no longer niche - it’s a global sport and a cultural force. And the Esports World Cup is its most unifying stage. We’re honored to lead this transformation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

As part of the event's target to reach a wider audience, the Esports World Cup Foundation will produce over 7,000 hours of live content, being delivered in 35 languages across 140 countries via some of the world's largest media platforms such as: FOX Sports (U.S.), DAZN, Eurosport, and NAVER. Additional competition coverage will be streamed live on Twitch, YouTube and TikTok.

This year also brings a number of new titles to the competition, including VALORANT, Fatal Fury, and Chess. Notable icons such as Magnus Carlsen and Cristiano Ronaldo join the EWC as Global Ambassadors, the former wil also compete in the inaugural EWC Chess Tournament from July 29–31. 

Fans can expect to catch the EWC action across its full roster of titles: Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: Warzone, Chess, Counter-Strike 2, Crossfire, Dota 2, EA FC 25, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG MOBILE, PUBG: Battlegrounds, Rainbow Six Siege X, RENNSPORT, Rocket League, Starcraft 2, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics, Tekken 8, and VALORANT.