Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege kicks off at Gamers8 with $2m prize pool

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege kicks off at Gamers8 with $2m prize pool
The world’s best will battle it out for prize pool of $2m in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege in at Gamers8. (SEF)
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Updated 13 July 2023
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Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege kicks off at Gamers8 with $2m prize pool

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege kicks off at Gamers8 with $2m prize pool
  • Four-day tournament for the online tactical shooter game begins today at Boulevard Riyadh City and runs until Sunday, July 16

RIYADH: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege kicks off today at Gamers8 in Riyadh with a $2 million prize pool up for grabs.

Organized by the Saudi Esports Federation, the four-day tournament in the hugely popular tactical shooter video game commences on Thursday, July 13 at Boulevard Riyadh City. The winners of Sunday’s grand finale take home a whopping $750,000.

There are eight top teams taking part. The invited sides are G2 Esports, Oxygen Esports, and w7m Esports, who are joined by homegrown heroes Team Falcons. After getting to the final last year, the Saudi Arabian superstars will be hoping to go one better this time.

The Gamers Without Borders regional qualifiers Team BDS from Europe, who won the Gamers8 event last year, M80 from North America, Ninjas in Pyjamas from South America, and CYCLOPS from Japan, are also all in action.

Faisal bin Homran, chief esports officer at the SEF, said: “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes is delighted to welcome back Rainbow Six Siege to Riyadh and the biggest gaming and esports festival worldwide. It remains one of the most popular multiplayer games available and epitomizes our aim of bringing the best tournaments and best titles to Saudi Arabia as we continue to lead and enhance the region’s gaming and esports landscape.

“Be it within the Kingdom or beyond, the game’s ever-expanding player base keeps growing as fans relish the colorful cast of operators, intricate and intense gameplay, dynamic maps, and tactical approach to shooters. There truly is something for every kind of gamer to be found in Rainbow Six Siege, a game with immense personality and attitude. Let battle commence at Gamers8: The Land of Heroes — and may the best team win.”


Saudi esports team Twisted Minds wins 1st place at Gamers8 Club Awards

Saudi esports team Twisted Minds wins 1st place at Gamers8 Club Awards
Updated 01 September 2023
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Saudi esports team Twisted Minds wins 1st place at Gamers8 Club Awards

Saudi esports team Twisted Minds wins 1st place at Gamers8 Club Awards
  • The team, founded in 2020, triumphed with 81.87 points and received cash award of $1.5 million
  • This year’s competition held under theme “The Land of Heroes” and showcased 13 tournaments

RIYADH: Saudi team Twisted Minds won first place at the Gamers8 Club Awards, winning a cash award of $1.5 million.

The team, which was founded in 2020, triumphed with 81.87 points and received their prize on the first day of the second Next World Forum.

Mohammed Jebreen, facilities and purchasing manager of Twisted Minds Esport, told Arab News: “We participated in last year’s tournament (but) we didn’t do so great — we played one game only.

“In this tournament, we participated as a team in every game of Gamers8.

“We won the first two games, being the first Saudi team to win Gamers8 and the first team in the world to win two Gamers8 trophies in the season.”

The Saudi club competed in Gamers8 with a pool of 179 teams from around the world.

The tournament began on July 6 and the esports club clinched top spot with 81.87 points, followed by Team BDS with 65 points. There was a tie for third place between Gaimin Gladiators and Team Vitality, both scoring 55 points.

Recognizing excellence in esports globally, Gamers8 presented competitions featuring more than 117 different nationalities.

This year’s competition was held under the theme “The Land of Heroes” and showcased 13 tournaments.

Gamers8 Club Awards was established by the Saudi Esports Federation in June 2023.

Saudi Arabia boasts one of the fastest-growing gaming sectors in the region, which helps to play a pivotal role in the Kingdom’s transformation.


2nd Next World Forum tackles challenges facing esport players, organizations

2nd Next World Forum tackles challenges facing esport players, organizations
Updated 31 August 2023
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2nd Next World Forum tackles challenges facing esport players, organizations

2nd Next World Forum tackles challenges facing esport players, organizations
  • Panels discussed wider relationship between Olympics, esports, how to improve it

RIYADH: The second Next World Forum has shed light on some of the most pressing issues facing organizations and players in the esports field, bringing together international experts for the event in Riyadh.

One of the panels discussed the wider relationship between the Olympics and esports in the presence of several specialists including Timo Krueger, national director of esports and gaming at Nielsen, Jan Paterson, managing director of NEOM’s sports sector, Hicham Chahine, CEO and founder of professional esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Matt Woods, CEO and co-founder of esports news and media company AFK.

The first Olympic Esports Week was held in Singapore this year with more than 100 athletes from around the world competing in 10 virtual sports. However, the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Esports Series came under fire from some quarters of the gaming industry for choosing games they claimed were not truly representative of the spirit of esports.

Panellists noted the need to give video games a chance in the Olympics realm by making them more aligned with Olympic sports.

Another panel discussion addressed the future of gaming and esport facilities, and included speakers Mike Milanov, chief operating officer of Team Liquid, Mossad Al-Dossary, FIFA esport player and co-founder and chairman of Team Falcons, Arnab Bhattacharya, strategy director at the Qiddiya project, and Joachim Haraldsen, adviser at Steinbukken.

The Qiddiya project aims to make the destination a global hub for gaming and esports with a year-round calendar of events.

Speaking at the panel, Bhattacharya said: “There are plans to have Gamers8 there for two months, but also there’s going to be a whole bunch of other events as well.

“We’re planning to have a whole bunch of gaming and esports hotels. There are plans for bootcamp facilities to train in Qiddiya. And lastly, we’re also thinking of having permanent headquarters, of course for the local teams, but also for international teams to set up their regional headquarters,” he added.

On esports training facilities, Milanov said that such resources had only recently started to take off in the West.

“Around 2016, 2017, a lot of teams were still in villas or gaming houses, they were practicing out of the living room or where they were living with their teammates. And we were one of the first organizations at Team Liquid to make that change,” he added.

He pointed out that Team Liquid wanted to professionalize the work environment and strike a balance between working and living.

“An esports training facility includes everything from your back-office staff, graphics designers, marketing team, social media, finance, accounting, and HR executives, and most importantly, state-of-the-art technology and screen rooms for the various esports.”

Milanov said: “We do a lot of focus on sports psychology, communication, mental health, and sleep. Also, things such as reaction speed, cognitive function, eye tracking. It’s actually quite amazing.”


193 Saudi athletes prepare to compete in 19 sports at Asian Games

Emblem of Hangzhou 2022. supplied
Emblem of Hangzhou 2022. supplied
Updated 29 August 2023
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193 Saudi athletes prepare to compete in 19 sports at Asian Games

Emblem of Hangzhou 2022. supplied

Riyadh: Teams from Saudi Arabia are preparing to take part in the 19th Asian Games 2022, due to get underway in the Chinese city of Hangzhou next month.

More than 12,000 male and female athletes representing 45 Asian countries are expected to participate in the sporting spectacular running from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8.

The Kingdom will be represented by 193 athletes competing in 19 events, namely football, basketball, handball, athletics, equestrian, archery, fencing, shooting, rowing, weightlifting, boxing, taekwondo, jujitsu, karate, kurash, table tennis, tennis, golf, and esports.

The Saudi teams have been attending training camps in preparation for the Asian Games at which sportspeople from the Kingdom have won a total of 61 medals — 25 gold, 13 silver, and 23 bronze — since Bangkok 1978.

The breakdown of medals is as follows: one bronze in New Delhi 1982, one silver in Seoul 1986, one bronze in Beijing 1990, one gold, three silver, and five bronze in Hiroshima 1994, seven gold, one silver, and one bronze in Busan 2002, eight gold, and six bronze in Doha 2006, five gold, three silver, and five bronze in Guangzhou 2010, three gold, three silver, and one bronze in Incheon 2014, and one gold, two silver, and three bronze in Jakarta 2018.


Rocket League set to close out Gamers8 at Boulevard Riyadh City

Rocket League set to close out Gamers8 at Boulevard Riyadh City
Updated 24 August 2023
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Rocket League set to close out Gamers8 at Boulevard Riyadh City

Rocket League set to close out Gamers8 at Boulevard Riyadh City
  • From Aug. 24-27, the Esports Arena will host 24 top teams as they battle it out for share of $2m prize pool

RIYADH: Gamers8: The Land of Heroes on Wednesday confirmed details of the highly-anticipated Rocket League tournament which will close the world’s biggest gaming and esports festival.

From Aug. 24 to 27, the best Rocket League teams will battle it out for a share of the $2 million prize pool — with the winners taking home $500,000.

Organized by the Saudi Esports Federation, the competition starts on Thursday as the 24 participating teams begin the group stages live from the Esports Arena at Boulevard Riyadh City.

Faisal bin Homran, chief esports officer at the Saudi Esports Federation, said: “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes has seen some of the greatest gaming action ever this summer, and Rocket League is the ideal tournament to conclude the biggest gaming and esports festival worldwide.

“A high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem with easy-to-understand controls and fluid, physics-driven competition, Rocket League has rightly earned a spot as one of the favorite games across the globe. Expect hi-octane thrills and drama galore at Gamers8: The Land of Heroes.”

The participating Rocket League teams at Gamers8: The Land of Heroes are: FaZe Clan, FURIA Esports, Gen.G Mobil1 Racing, Karmine Corp, Team Liquid, Team BDS, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Secret, Ground Zero Gaming, Pioneers, Rule One, Team Falcons, Elevate, Gaimin Gladiators, Limitless, Twisted Minds, Version 1, KOI, G2 Esports, OpTic Gaming, Team Vitality, Monkeys, Oxygen Esports and suhh.


Prince Faisal elected to second term as president of Arab Esports Federation

Prince Faisal elected to second term as president of Arab Esports Federation
Updated 22 August 2023
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Prince Faisal elected to second term as president of Arab Esports Federation

Prince Faisal elected to second term as president of Arab Esports Federation

RIYADH: The general assembly of the Arab Esports Federation has elected Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan as president for a second term.

The election took place during the Kingdom’s hosting of the Afro-Arab Esports League from Aug. 18 to 20, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The assembly also elected Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan as the first vice president, and Hussain AlKooheji, Sherif Abdel Baqi and Maher Sarouli as vice presidents.

Prince Faisal said: “Through this meeting, our objective is to advance our Arab nations to a prominent position within the esports sector, showcasing professionalism that serves as a global benchmark. We aspire for Arab players to excel on the international esports stage.”

Prince Faisal said that Arab countries have talented and dedicated players, leaders and officials.