The Saudi Esports Federation has introduced an exciting initiative called the Gamers8 Club Awards, a special fund designed to reward esports organizations participating in the Gamers8 esports festival.
With a total prize pool of $5 million (~£4 million), the Gamers8 Club Awards will distribute cash prizes to esports organizations based on their performance across multiple game titles during the festival.
This reward system is an addition to the already impressive prize pool of $45 million (~£38 million) that will be shared among various esports tournaments held at the festival, organized by the Saudi Esports Federation.
The Gamers8 festival features thrilling competitions in popular games such as CS:GO, Dota 2, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, StarCraft 2, Fortnite, and Tekken 7. The festival will kick off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on July 6th.
To determine the recipients of the Gamers8 Club Awards, a points-based system will be used to evaluate clubs participating in multiple tournaments throughout the eight-week festival.
Teams that compete in at least two game titles will earn points based on their placements, and these points will unlock rewards based on their overall performance throughout the festival.
The organization that secures the 1st place will be awarded $1.5 million and receive 50 points. Similarly, the 2nd place organization will earn $1.1 million and 35 points. The rewards will scale down to 8th place, where the organization will receive $100,000 and 2 points.
While the significance of the points for the Gamers8 Club Awards has not been disclosed by the Saudi Esports Federation, eligible teams can expect additional performance-based awards and opportunities. Esports Insider has reached out for further details on this matter.
According to the Saudi Esports Federation, the introduction of the Gamers8 Club Awards aims to encourage investment and foster collaboration among clubs, teams, organizers, and game publishers. This initiative demonstrates Saudi Arabia’s commitment to investing in the entire esports sector, not just events, and contributes to the growth of the esports industry in the Kingdom.
At the conclusion of the eight-week Gamers8 season, the Club Awards ceremony will take place at the Next World Forum, a B2B gaming and esports forum held in August. The ceremony will be livestreamed from the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh and will honor the top winning teams, as well as present additional awards for individual and team-based categories.
This $5 million initiative is the latest in a series of significant investments made by Saudi Arabia in the esports ecosystem. The Saudi Esports Federation, led by Saudi royal HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, who also serves as Vice Chairman of Savvy Games Group, unveiled ambitious investment plans worth $38 billion (~£34.5 billion) in September 2022.
Notably, the Saudi Arabian government-backed Savvy Games Group acquired ESL and FACEIT for $1.5 billion in January 2022, followed by the acquisition of esports infrastructure giant Vindex in March 2023.
Despite these investments, Saudi Arabia’s government involvement in esports has been met with controversy due to concerns over the country’s human rights record, including its anti-LGBTQ+ stance, treatment of women, and suppression of dissent.
Last year, the Rocket League team of esports organization Moist Esports boycotted the inaugural Gamer8 event as a form of protest against Saudi Arabia’s strict anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
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