In 2023’s summer, a multitude of esports professionals gathered in Saudi Arabia to participate in the Gamers8 festival. As a multi-week event, Gamers8 held an assortment of tournaments featuring various unique games along with substantial cash rewards. Although the event stirred up excitement among participants, it also faced criticism for being an instance of sportswashing in the esports industry.
Nevertheless, the Gamers8 festival was a big hit, leading the Saudi Arabian government, the official supporter of the event, to announce its return in 2024 under the fresh banner of the Esports World Cup. It has even managed to grab the attention of Riot Games due to its promising nature and increased attractiveness.
Esports journalist, Jacob Wolf, has divulged that a League of Legends tournament will be a part of the festival. It’s not yet clear how League of Legends will be integrated into the festival, but it will happen in the first week of July. Notably, it is the first game to be confirmed for the festival, speculated to start in July with potentially the biggest reward pool in esports history.
As this information is now public, expect to hear more about the highly anticipated festival soon.