RIYADH: Gamers Without Borders, the world’s largest charitable esports event, has concluded this year’s edition by raising a total of $10 million for its humanitarian aid partners.
The money will go to Direct Relief, International Medical Corps, UNICEF, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, the UN’s World Food Programme and the UNHCR. The donations were made by teams, players and gamers worldwide.
The funds will be used for urgent humanitarian projects and add to the work achieved through the $30 million in donations from the GWB’s three previous editions.
Organized and held virtually by the Saudi Esports Federation, this year’s event was titled “Gamers Without Borders: Gaming For Good.”
From April 10, six weeks of action saw the GWB host five tournaments across four major gaming titles: StarCraft II, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Rocket League and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. One particularly special moment saw NAVI Javelins triumph at the first all-women CS:GO tournament at GWB to claim a $1 million prize for charity.
Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation, said: “‘Gamers Without Borders: Gaming For Good’ has exceeded our biggest hopes and proven once again how powerful gaming and esports can be as a force for good. The global gaming community has come together in their droves to provide resources that can make a sizeable change in the lives of people less fortunate than us.
“Everyone at the Saudi Esports Federation is exceptionally proud of Gamers Without Borders and what it has helped achieve in the world. None of this, however, is possible without the help of our humanitarian aid partners and the support of gamers from every corner of the planet. We thank all of them immensely.”
Rebecca Milner, chief advancement officer, International Medical Corps, said: “The support we receive from players in the Gamers Without Borders tournaments is essential to our work around the world helping people affected by conflict, disaster and disease. For example, gamers who choose us can make a real difference now in the lives of innocent men, women and children affected by the earthquakes in Syria and Turkiye, and who are caught up in the conflicts in Ukraine, Yemen or any of the other 30 countries where we provide medical services and training.”
As an added incentive to GWB this year, winning teams and players from StarCraft II, Rocket League and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege all advance to the finals of Gamers8: The Land of Heroes. Two teams from the men’s CS:GO tournament also qualified.
The world’s biggest gaming and esports festival starts on July 6 for eight weeks at the purpose-built arena at Boulevard Riyadh City. This year, Gamers8: The Land of Heroes has a $45 million total prize pool, which is triple that of Gamers8 in 2022.
