IESF World Esports Championship 2024 to be held in Saudi Arabia

The World Esports Championshipesports tournament by nations, will be held in to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2024the International Esports Federation (IESF) has announced, although the host city has not yet been revealed. The announcement was made live during the closing ceremony of the World Esports Championship 2023, which took place in Isai, Romania, between August 26 and September 3.

Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and president of the Saudi Esports Federation, became a statutory vice president of the International Esports Federation in June, in addition to serving as vice president of the World Esports Federation.

The World Esports Championship is a global esports tournament held since 2009 in which national teams (chosen by IESF member national eSports federations) compete to become national champions. The edition of the WEC 2023 included tournaments of CS:GO (with Open and female categories), Dota 2, eFootball, Tekken 7, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and PUBG Mobile.

The move to Saudi Arabia comes amid rapid government-driven growth and investment in esports by the Saudi ruling family. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund owns. ESL FACEIT Group, Vindex and significant stakes in multiple video game developers. Last year they announced an ambitious national strategy for the esports sector, and the recent Gamers8 festivalorganized by the Saudi Esports Federation, with a prize pool of $45M.