❘ Revealed: 2023-04-01T14:00:00
❘ Up to date: 2023-03-31T16:17:12
The 2023 version of Gamers8 is quick approaching, with extra prize cash and esports tournaments than final 12 months. Right here is all the pieces it is advisable know concerning the Saudi pageant.
After a primary version in 2022, Saudi Arabian gaming and esports pageant Gamers8 will return in 2023 with an occasion dubbed ‘The Land of Heroes’. Organized by the Saudi Esports Federation, the pageant will happen over eight weeks and can embrace esports tournaments, music live shows, pageant actions, and the Subsequent World Discussion board convention.
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In 2023, Gamers8 goals to be “larger in each means”, from the variety of esports tournaments to the sum of money on the road. To that finish, the pageant will supply $45 million – the “largest prize pool” in esports historical past, in accordance with the organizers.
Regardless of its sizeable prize pool, the Gamers8 pageant has been the goal of a lot criticism within the esports neighborhood due to its ties to the Saudi authorities and the country’s record of human rights violations.
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Beneath is all the pieces it is advisable know concerning the upcoming Gamers8 pageant. This text shall be up to date as extra data turns into out there.
Gamers8 2023: Schedule
The 2023 version of Gamers8 will kick off on July 6 and final over eight weeks, coming to an in depth in September (no official finish date has been supplied). The pageant will happen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital.
The occasion is predicted to happen on the NXT LVL Area, a custom-built venue in Riyadh Boulevard Metropolis that was unveiled forward of the 2022 pageant.
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Gamers8 2023: Esports tournaments and prize
Gamers8 has to date introduced six esports tournaments for the 2023 version with a mixed $20.5 million prize pool. Dota 2, Fortnite, and Rocket League return to the pageant, whereas CS:GO, StarCraft: Remastered and Starcraft II shall be performed for the primary time.
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It’s doubtless that, like final 12 months, there will even be particular person prizes for the highest gamers. Former PSG.LGD participant Zhang ‘Faith_bian’ Ruida, for instance, received $100,000 for being the Dota 2 event’s MVP.
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The organizers haven’t but disclosed what number of esports tournaments shall be held all through the pageant. Final 12 months’s occasion additionally featured competitions in Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG Cellular.
The next esports tournaments shall be performed at Gamers8:
- July 6-9: Fortnite ($2 million)
- July 17-30: Dota 2 ($15 million)
- August 3-6: StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft II ($500,000 mixed)
- August 14-20: CS:GO ($1 million)
- August 21-27: Rocket League ($2 million)
Gamers8 2023: Controversy defined
Gamers8’s whopping prize pool could also be lauded by many, however that hasn’t stopped the pageant from drawing criticism from a number of quarters. The Saudi authorities has been accused of taking its sportswashing formula to gaming and esports in an try to overshadow its human rights abuses.
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Final 12 months, Moist Esports, the group based by common streamer Charles ‘MoistCritikal’ White, refused an invitation to Gamers8’s Rocket League event. “I cannot be associating with a rustic that doesn’t acknowledge LGBTQ+ individuals as human beings,” Moist supervisor Noah Hinder mentioned on the time. “I feel it’s vital to place my morals and beliefs over cash.”
Gamers8 will happen amid considerations concerning the rising affect of Saudi Arabian cash in esports. The Savvy Video games Group (SGG), which is totally owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, not too long ago introduced a SAR 142 billion (~$37.9 billion) funding technique because it goals to show the dominion right into a global hub for gaming and esports by the tip of the last decade as a part of the Imaginative and prescient 2023 challenge.
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Final 12 months, SGG acquired ESL and FACEIT in a deal price $1.5 billion. ESL will function the manufacturing firm for the Gamers8 pageant, according to HLTV.org.