The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has officially renewed its partnership with beverage brand company PepsiCo for the 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC).
Drink brands Pepsi and Mountain Dew will be the main partners for the multi-title gaming festival, following its debut partnership during last year’s edition. There will be branded fridges and product placement across esports venues, the Players’ Lounge and festival grounds.
According to the official press release, Pepsi will set up immersive fan zones, large-scale product sampling, and co-branded content with artists, creators, and players. The new partner, Mountain Drew, will instead deliver exclusive merchandise drops and branded competitions.
PepsiCo has a long-standing presence in the gaming and esports industry, dating as far back as 2017. Aside from the Esports World Cup Foundation, the beverage company previously closed a partnership with EA FC, as well as esports organisations Counter Logic Gaming and, most recently, OverActive Media-owned MAD Lions KOI.
The partnership renewal with Pepsi follows a trend of partner announcements by the Esports World Cup Foundation ahead of the start of the tournament. Earlier this week, the EWCF announced a partnership with Lenovo Legion as its official gaming hardware partner, joining the likes of Saudi Telecom Company (stc Group), Amazon Ads, Barn’s Coffee, OBSBOT and Sony, among others.
Taking place from July 7the until August 24th, the 2025 EWC made headlines for its record-breaking $70m (~£51.2m) prize pool and the largest number of competitions in one single event, with 25 tournaments across 24 different game titles.
Despite the latest developments, which include football icon Cristiano Ronaldo as the EWC’s global ambassador, the event continues to be criticised by the esports community due to the involvement of the Saudi Arabian government, which is accused of engaging in ‘esports washing.’
