RIYADH: With the whitest of sands, the most golden of sunsets and see-your-feet-clear aquamarine water, the island of Cebu in the Philippines is the epitome of an idyllic honeymoon destination.

Not everyone there, however, is happy to while away their time on the beach.

Each of the Omega Empress players — who recently won the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational at the Esports World Cup at Boulevard Riyadh City — is from the island. But while it will always be home, the team also found their place in the state-of-the-art Saudi Esports Federation Arena and its surroundings.

“It’s like a paradise for esports players,” says Omega Empress player Not Ayanami, real name Gwyneth Diagon. “Everything here is perfect. The organization, the media, the player care, everything, everybody, all the stuff.”

With Riyadh summers soaring above 40 degrees Celsius, many people are used to indoor life at this time of year. Cebu may have a more moderate temperature, but the Riyadh way of life has long resonated with the 21-year-old.

“I grew up playing video games, but for the others they live beside the beach and some of them live beside the waterfalls and the lake,” she says.

A professional esports player for four years, whose position in the team is EXP Lane, added: “You’ll never run out of water there; you’ll never run out of falls or beaches. I’m not that much of an outdoor person. I prefer to be inside. I like to watch movies, just read books, and obviously play games.

“My family likes to go outside. I’m the only one that likes to read books. There was one time my family were like ‘why the obsession with books?!’ It was a heated argument and they started to throw away my books being like ‘why would you buy books?!’ But it was fine afterwards.

“It’s something I love, so now I’m a world champion I can buy as many books as I want! I can buy a library.”

The MWI featured the largest prize pool in the history of women’s esports — an incredible $500,000. The $180,000 winning total will be shared among the Omega Empress players who, as well as Not Ayanami, consist of Gold Laner Sheen ‘Shinoa’ Perez, Jungler Kaye ‘Keishi’ Alpuerto, and Mid Laner Rica ‘Amoree’ Amores. The team is led by coach Salman Macarambon.

“It’s the biggest prize pool, and it’s life changing,” says Not Ayanami. “I think I’ll save the majority of the money and spare some to renovate our house back in our province. Maybe some of it I’ll use to take seminars on financial education so I can learn how to handle it properly.”

Playing against favorites Team Vitality in the final, Omega Empress whitewashed their more fancied opponents 3-0. The victory ended a 24-game, three-year winning streak.

“It feels like a fantasy for me,” confessed Not Ayanami. “It’s still not really sinking in, but I feel so happy and proud of myself that we that we brought our country’s name to the top.

“We didn’t expect this. We just played our game. We stayed calm, stayed disciplined, and focused on the game with a 100 percent mentality. And that was it. At first, we didn’t really think that we were the strongest. But now I think we are. It feels so mind blowing.”

With women making up 48 percent of Saudi Arabia’s 23.5 million gamers, the Filipina star was delighted to see the huge support from females in the crowd during the MWI.

Asked if she had a message for them, she replied: “Go with your dreams. Don’t let the stereotypical set up that men are the ones for gaming stop you. I would say that they have to make sure it really is their passion and, if it is, I suggest that they really study the game they’re playing. They need to understand how it works to be good at it. Not just like, ‘okay, I’m pressing this, I’m pressing that, I’m good’. They have to understand the game in depth and that’s a faster way for them to improve.”

The EWC runs until Aug. 25 at Boulevard Riyadh City and features 22 global competitions in 21 leading games.

RIYADH: The Esports World Cup, the world’s largest esports competition and festival, has entered the second half of its competition after drawing unprecedented viewership and live attendances for its inaugural event at Boulevard Riyadh City.

The Esports World Cup Foundation, the non-profit organization hosting the EWC, has announced a total of 177.5 million hours watched over the first four weeks, with a number of individual tournaments setting viewership highs. In addition, a total of $16.5 million of the event’s record-breaking $60 million prize pool has been distributed across nine of 22 total championships. The event’s daily festival has attracted more than one million visitors during the first half of the landmark event taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“After four quick weeks, the Esports World Cup has already surpassed our highest expectations,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of Esports World Cup Foundation. “When we started this journey, our goal was to leapfrog the esports industry with a historic global event uniting the best games, players and clubs, and reach fans beyond the core esports enthusiasts, while tapping into the 3.4 billion gamers around the world. I’m proud that we’re well on our way to achieving that goal here in Riyadh with hundreds of millions of viewers at home, and over a million visiting onsite, shattering not only our expectations, but also a lot of 2024 esports records. The EWC has awarded more than $16 million in life-changing prize money so far, with millions more to come, including the ultimate prize — a share of $20 million across the Esports World Cup Club Championship at the end of August.”

Viewership and social highlights

Across the first four weeks of the Esports World Cup, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang registered the event’s highest peak viewership with nearly 2.4 million concurrents, the largest figure for any MLBB tournament in 2024. The game’s popularity extended to the MLBB Women’s Invitational at EWC, recording 2.5 million hours watched over its 34-hour total broadcast. With 265,117 peak viewers, it became the fourth most-watched event in women’s esports history. Mobile games in general have exceeded viewership expectations at the EWC, with Free Fire attracting more than 441,000 peak concurrents.

On PC, two popular multiplayer online battle arena games set high watermarks for viewership at the EWC. With 55 million hours watched, the Dota 2 competition was the most-viewed tournament for the game this year, while the League of Legends competition was the largest third-party tournament for the game in the past decade, recording 53 million hours watched and 3.4 million peak viewers (including China).

The EWC has attracted high engagement from fans across social media. Its accounts have collectively recorded more than one billion impressions, 270 million social video views and 58 million total social engagements, a testament to the event’s resonance among the global esports community and beyond.

Attendance highlights

During the first half of the EWC, more than one million visitors attended the massive on-site experience at Boulevard City in Riyadh. The festival venues alone have attracted 289,000 visitors, while the esports competitions have sold more than 60,000 tickets so far. The esports events are less than 3,000 tickets away from a total sellout with four weeks and 13 competitions still to come. The EWC day pass has sold out for the entire tournament, while the POWR Villa and Falcons HQ are fully booked through Aug. 17.

During Week 3, the EWC hosted international football superstars Neymar and Diogo Jota. As avid esports fans, both athletes took in the high-energy atmosphere around the Counter-Strike 2 event.

“Being here at the inaugural Esports World Cup is a truly amazing experience,” Jota said. “The organization and scale behind this event are truly impressive, even more than I anticipated. I’ve always believed in the potential of esports, even before starting my own team, and EWC is proof that this scene is evolving rapidly. This level of investment and infrastructure is exactly what esports needs to grow and reach a wider audience. I’m excited to see how EWC continues to evolve and push the boundaries of competitive gaming.”

 
Competition highlights

The EWC has already awarded $16.5 million in prize money across nine tournament championships and another $450,000 in MVP awards. More than $44 million in prize money will be awarded over the final four weeks of competition spanning the remaining 13 championships and the club championship.

Currently, Team Falcons sits atop the Esports World Cup club championship leaderboard with 3,500 points, 2,330 above second-place Team Liquid. The Club Championship, an innovative cross-game competitive format distinctive to the EWC featuring a dedicated prize pool of $20 million, rewards the top 16 clubs based on their overall performance. At the event’s conclusion, the club with the best performance across the 22 game championships will be crowned the world’s first Esports World Cup club champion.

The first four weeks have delivered a number of upsets and dominating performances. In the record-breaking $500,000 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational, Smart Omega Empress upset tournament-favorite Team Vitality to earn the top prize of $180,000. In the Overwatch 2 tournament, Crazy Raccoon rolled through the bracket, winning 15 of 17 maps played to take home the trophy and $400,000. And in League of Legends, global superstar Faker led defending World Champions T1 to a 3-1 victory over Top Esports, adding another international accolade to his storied career.

 
Closing weekend

The biggest weekend in esports history will take place on Aug. 24-25 as the inaugural EWC comes to a close.

On Aug. 24, the 2024 Esports Awards, the most prestigious night in esports, will honor the best in the business from every part of the world, celebrating clubs, athletes, content creators, games and more. Highlights from the evening will include the lifetime achievement mixer, red carpet event, esports village and the star-studded awards ceremony itself, which last year attracted more than 22 million viewers.

The second two-day New Global Sport Conference will begin on Aug. 24 as it unites leaders from esports, gaming, business, sports, and entertainment to explore “The future of fandom.” Thought leaders from around the world will discuss fandom’s impact on business planning, content, IP and media rights, marketing, and community-building. The speaker lineup to date includes: Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Ralf Reichert, Magnus Carlsen, Toshimoto Mitomo, Greg Norman, Maya Rogers, RJ Cutler, Dr. Songyee Yoon, Sir Leonard Blavatnik and Joe Marsh.

The weekend will conclude on Aug. 25 as the first Esports World Cup club champion is crowned and awarded its share of the $20 million club championship prize pool. The EWC closing ceremony will then welcome clubs, players, and fans to come together for a spectacular celebration, featuring fireworks, a light show and live music.