GeoGuessr withdraws from Esports World Cup after community backlash over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record

In response to a huge negative backlash from its player base, the geographic puzzle game GeoGuessr has announced its withdrawal from the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

GeoGuessr announced its planned participation in the Esports World Cup in early May, describing it as “a huge step” for the game. But the immediate reaction was almost exclusively negative, because of the human rights record Saudi Arabia. As noted by a user in X: “Promoting your world championship as diverse and inclusive and then deciding to have a wildcard tournament in Riyadh, of all places, is an incredibly stupid decision.”

GeoGuessr players react to Esports World Cup announcement on Twitter.

Less than a week after GeoGuessr’s announcement of the EWC, the creators of many of the game’s most popular maps (GeoGuessr allows community members to contribute playable location lists) released a statement “in solidarity with those currently residing in Saudi Arabia who are subject to oppression, as well as members of the community who would feel and be unsafe attending the tournament in Riyadh.“. They also took more concrete action by making unplayable their maps.

The EWC is a sportswashing tool used by the Saudi Arabian government to distract from and hide its horrible human rights record. Groups targeted by the government include women, LGBTQ people, apostates and atheists, political dissidents, migrant workers under the Kafala system, religious minorities and many others.

Subjugation of these groups is widespread and pervasive. Their members are routinely subjected to discrimination, imprisonment, torture and even public executions. These gross human rights violations are well documented and undisputed.

GeoGuessr Map Makers

Map makers said they would keep their blackout “until GeoGuessr took action“, specifically the cancellation of its participation in the EWC and a promise not to organize other events in Saudi Arabia.. A day later, they got what they asked for: GeoGuessr has announced that it is withdrawing..

I have seen your reactions in the last few days regarding our decision to participate in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. When we made that decision, it was with good intentions: to connect with our community in the Middle East and to spread GeoGuessr’s core mission, which is to enable everyone to explore the world.

Since Erland, Anton and I founded GeoGuessr in 2013, we have always tried to be a community-centric game. All of us in the Stockholm office are passionate fans of GeoGuessr, doing our best to build something meaningful, with you and for you.

That said, you-our community-have made it clear that this decision is not aligned with what GeoGuessr stands for. So, when you tell us we’ve made a mistake, we take it seriously. That is why we have made the decision to withdraw from the Esports World Cup in Riyadh.

GeoGuessr CEO, Daniel Antell

This sudden change in direction is a big move for GeoGuessr. Saudi Arabia has been investing billions of dollars in video games and e-sports in what many perceive as an attempt to clean up its public image-esportswashing is a term sometimes used to describe it-and there’s big money on the table at the EWC, which features multimillion-dollar prize pools in games like Dota 2, Valorant, Apex Legends, League of Legends, StarCraft 2, PUBG, Rainbow Six Siege X, Overwatch 2 and many others. Even chess is joining the show.

Reaction to the recall has been universally positive: while some question GeoGuessr’s “good intentions”-after all, human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia aren’t exactly a secret-the general feeling is that the community rallied, developers listened and responded quickly, and it’s a win-win: “A 5K,” as some call it, in reference to the perfect score on GeoGuessr.

With the EWC tournament cancelled, GeoGuessr has announced that it will soon share updated information on how wildcards will be assigned for the World Finals. The GeoGuessr community, including the map creators who had locked their content, has also announced a new tournament called Rainbow Classic Tournamentcollectively funded, “to empower women and LGBT+ members of our community.” to be held at the same time as the now cancelled EWC tournament.

If you’re curious about how a Google Maps-based game can become a narrated and exciting spectacle, don’t miss the 2024 Grand Championship, an incredible duel with highs and lows, twists and surprises.