Esports World Cup 2025: All eyes on Saudi Arabia with Cristiano Ronaldo as ambassador

Esports, in its infancy, has always been a vocation in entertainment: gaming has been looked down as a pastime rather than a competitive sport. That belief has now transcended into a realm of competition, gaming enthusiasts have become virtual athletes, and the gaming parlours have become colosseums.

Esports, now a multi-billion-dollar industry, is a medal sport at the Asian Games. It is no longer knocking on the door of mainstream sport, it’s kicking it down.

A fresh new chapter of that will be the Esports World Cup 2025, set to be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between July 8 and August 24. The tournament will have 26 events across 25 titles with a prize pool of a whopping USD 70 million, the biggest in an esports event ever.

Galaxy of stars

The World Cup aims to draw more people into the tournament through glamour, traditional sports and entertainment.

And who does it turn to? Cristiano Ronaldo, a Portugal legend, a European champion and the most-followed individual on Instagram. The 40-year-old, who won the UEFA Nations League last month, was named the brand ambassador of the tournament.

The tournament’s opening ceremony will feature American rapper Post Malone, who is an avid gamer too, having played titles like Warzone and PUBG live for fans on the streaming platform, Twitch.

Moreover, Amazon Prime has released a five-part documentary on the tournament, named ‘Esports World Cup: Level Up’. Sports docu-series has been a proven avenue to expand reach, with Drive to Survive drawing over 360,000 fans to Formula 1 after its first season.

Another sporting spectacle in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has emerged as the sporting capital of Asia, hosting major tournaments in football, motorsports, golf and combat sports.

In esports, the country has shone both on and off the gaming stage, producing FIFAe World Cup champions like Mossad ‘Msdossary’ Al Dossary (in pic) and investing USD 37.8 billion through Savvy Games Group, owned by the Public Investment Fund, for the development of gaming.

The inaugural edition of the Esports World Cup was also held in Saudi Arabia last year, and this time, the tournament returns with more titles (26 instead of 22) and a higher prize pool.

Uncharted territory

Among traditional sports, Chess – a touchstone for the brain — has always maintained a niche for itself. So has esports, building its own ecosystem and then making inroads into traditional sporting events.

The World Cup will now see a merger of the two: online chess entering uncharted territory, with a prize pool of USD 1.5 million.

Twelve of the 16 players were selected from the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) 2025, while the final four would be confirmed in the Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ) later this month.

Arjun Erigaisi is the only confirmed Indian chess player at the Esports World Cup, playing for Gen. G Esports, an organisation based in Seoul and Los Angeles.
| Photo Credit:
B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu

India will have a chance to shine both as a team and/or player(s).

At the LCQ, Grandmasters Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram from the Indian esports organisation S8UL will have a chance to represent the tricolour, while Praggnanandhaa, the highest-ranking Indian at the time of writing, will compete as part of Dutch organisation, Team Liqud.

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Even if all three are unsuccessful in qualifying for the finals, Arjun Erigaisi, representing Gen.G, will still be in contention to make India proud.