The Saudi Esports Federation has announced a one-year partnership deal with the Saudi Telecom Company (Stc Group).
As a result of the deal, Stc Group will provide technical support for a range of events organised and operated by the Saudi Esports Federation, including Gamers8.
Stc Group’s gaming and tournament platform, Stc Play, will become a sponsor of several esports events taking place in the Kingdom throughout 2023. Tournaments include Gamers8: The Land of Heroes, the Saudi League and the SEF Awards.
As part of the deal, Stc Group will also provide Saudi Esports Federation events with its high-speed internet. Meanwhile, Stc Play will act as the main tournament platform for community tournaments taking place at Gamers8 — which begins on July 6th.
In addition to supporting Saudi Esports Federation-sanctioned events, Stc Group’s accelerator programme, InspireU from Stc, will be present at Gamers8 to network with Saudi-based companies within the gaming and esports sectors.
The Saudi Esports Federation continues to score sponsorship deals for its Gamers8 festival. In recent months, the Gamers8 organiser has secured sponsorships with Aramco, PepsiCo, Razer, HONOR and more, in addition to partnering with FIFAe and launching a second season of ‘Stream School’ in collaboration with esports agency PLG.
Gamers8: The Land of Heroes is billed as one of the largest esports events in the world. The event will see a range of titles including FIFAe, Counter-Strike, Fortnite, and Rocket League with a $45m (~£35.4m) prize pool split across all titles. A further $5m (~$4m) will be distributed through a scheme that rewards esports organisations that perform well across the festival.
Gamers8 has faced criticism in the past from teams and the community over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. The Saudi Esports Federation is chaired by Saudi royal family member HRH Prince Faisal Bin Bandar Al Saud.
