PUBG Mobile has announced that the battle royale’s mid-season esports tournament will be held at the 2024 Esports World Cup in Riyadh this summer.
The tournament, dubbed the PUBG Mobile World Cup, will see the game’s best teams compete for a lion’s share of its $3m (~£2.4m) prize pool.
The event at the Esports World Cup is replacing the PUBG Mobile World Invitational as the official midseason tournament. This event was held last summer in Saudi Arabia during the Gamers8 multi-title esports festival. A PUBG Mobile midseason invitational has been running annually since 2021, with Southeast Asian esports organisation Vampire Esports a two-time reigning champion.
The Esports World Cup, which was announced by the Saudi Arabian Prime Minister last October, is set to last eight weeks and include a variety of titles. The event will support the country’s National Gaming and Esports strategy, a strategy released by the Crown Prince aimed at creating jobs, boosting the economy, and the Kingdom’s position in the global esports market.
The World Cup follows other initiatives in line with these goals including the creation of esports conglomerate ESL FACEIT Group and other large investments in gaming companies.
Saudi Arabia’s commitment to becoming a powerhouse in esports has not gone without criticism from the esports community, with some leading to calling the mass investment ‘esportswashing‘ in an attempt to change the country’s image or distract from human rights abuses. These criticisms are typically regarding the country’s LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and crackdowns on dissent, amongst other issues.
PUBG MOBILE is not the only mobile game to announce a tournament at the World Cup with Free Fire, Honor of Kings, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang all having tournaments at the event. The tournament is set to take place in July of this year with the exact dates yet to be public.
James Yang, Senior Director of Global Esports Center at Tencent, commented on the event: “Our midseason tournament has always been a fan favourite, bringing the world’s best players together in summer for an action-packed event that always provides excitement, drama and amazing stories.
“That’s why we’re so excited to have the PUBG Mobile World Cup (PMWC) be part of the Esports World Cup, it will mean an even greater competition for PUBG Mobile fans. This won’t be a tournament to miss!”
