This summer, the “World Cup” in e-sports will be organized in Saudi Arabia for the first time.
With the largest prize sum in history.
Now Riot Games is said to agree to let League of Legends be included according to leaked emails, writes Jacob Wolf.
The IOC president on the plans for the Olympics in e-sports
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the initiator of the “World Cup” in e-sports.
Photo: ZUMA/IBL
VM i League of Legends 2020 i Kina.
Photo: Hugo Hu / Riot Games
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in e-sports in 2023 and in the new year the country wants to become the world’s epicenter for competition. Among other things through the historic giant tournament, which they call “World cup”, which is organized for eight weeks starting in July.
The tournament is said to have the largest prize pool of all time – thus beating The International in Dota 2 from 2021, where teams competed for $40 million. That is, SEK 434 million.
Now writing reporter Jacob Wolf that the game studio Riot Games has agreed with the state-funded tournament to let the big game League of Legends be one of the branches during the competition.
This appears in a leaked email, where it is also clear that two teams each from Europe, North America, China and South Korea are allowed to participate.
Confirms call
In a statement, Riot Games confirms that the studio is in talks with “various organizers”, including the Saudi tournament, about licensing for competitions outside its own ecosystem.
“We are actively exploring these possibilities, including if and how they fit into the 2024 calendar, but none have been confirmed at this time,” writes Riot.
Riot Games has long had firm control over the top tier of League of Legends and it was six years ago that they last allowed professional teams to participate in a tournament organized by an external player.
The cash-strapped tournament in Riyadh, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the lead, has now seemingly convinced the game studio. League of Legends is thus the first game title that has leaked to the “World Cup”.
READ MORE: The Swedish e-sports association about the Saudi presidentREAD MORE: GeT_RiGhT is criticized after the Saudi postREAD MORE: Saudi Arabia will host the new WC in eSports
Follow Expressen E-sport on Youtube, Facebookand Twitter!
2024-01-03 11:16:02
#Details #big #game #agreed #Saudi #Arabia #ahead #historic #tournament
