Apex Legends becomes the last game to join Esports World Cup

Battle royale game Apex Legends has been revealed as the final title to feature in this summer’s Esports World Cup (EWC).

The Saudi government-backed, multi-title event will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and will feature a $45m (~£36m) prize pool.

As announced by the EWC Foundation, the EA title became the 19th game to be added to the inaugural EWC lineup. This will be the first event under the Esports World Cup banner following the rebranding of the Gamers8 tournament.

The EWC will see teams compete in title-specific tournaments, while organisations whose teams find success across titles will receive additional rewards to encourage competition in a range of games.

On the addition of Apex Legends and other new titles, Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation, said: “When we started working on the Esports World Cup and announced it last fall, we promised to bring the community all the best games.

“This final batch of titles concludes this promise. We are incredibly excited and thankful to all the Publishers and Game Developers making this dream lineup a reality. Uniting and showcasing the power of esports and the esports community becomes the reality. Billions of players across the world play these games, and we can’t wait to bring all of those vibrant fan communities together in Riyadh this summer.“ 

The EWC is set to feature a range of the most popular esports titles, including the recent addition of Riot Games MOBA League of Legends. The latter’s inclusion comes four years on from the LEC’s infamous sponsorship of the Saudi government-backed NEOM megaproject. The announcement drew backlash from fans and on-screen talent as a result of Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record, particularly LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, and the sponsorship was subsequently terminated.

Four years on and with the esports industry in a more difficult financial situation, negative sentiment towards Saudi-backed tournaments has seemingly eased, with League of Legends’ addition to the EWC lineup receiving less backlash than the 2020 NEOM deal.

The full list of titles at the Esports World Cup are Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, EAFC, Apex Legends, Fortnite, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG, PUBG Mobile, Rainbow Six, Rocket League, RENNSPORT, StarCraft II, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics and TEKKEN 8.