All Roads Lead to Riyadh?
All about the Esports World Cup and also Nintendo continuing to punch its fans directly in their cute littles faces...
Sometimes I come off as a grandstanding, self-righteous prick. I accept that perception if that is what I have earned by occasionally calling out colleagues for engaging in what I believe is the appearance of impropriety.
The esports journalism space has been “gentled,” as they say in Wheel of Time. Layoffs in 2023 and incredibly low pay have caused both publications and writers to let the meat touch the dairy; journalists are moonlighting as PR reps by night or writing marketing copy by day just to make ends meet (because they aren’t earning a living wage) and publications are taking money from companies they cover for their events and marketing businesses.
All of this activity can create conflicts, influence coverage, and—at the minimum—create the appearance of impropriety. Disclosures are important if you are really engaging in journalism, and when they are not included in your writing it makes writers and the publications they work for look like they have been bought and paid for.
This is not a new phenomenon in esports or gaming journalism, and some companies in the space have always been keen to use money, personal relationships, and access as a way to control the narrative and to “correct” journalists that might be asking the questions they don’t want answered.
This so connects to the biggest shift in recent esports history: Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund is putting tens of billions of dollars into the ecosystem right now and some of that capital is going into the pockets of the very publications that are supposed to be covering them with impartiality.
How can we (the press) address these investments fairly without asking about how the policy decisions of the Saudi government on human rights, its treatment of dissenters and journalists, its policies on women’s rights, the treatment of LGBTQA+ people within the country, etc. (no other government in the world has such a profound and direct ownership connection to businesses in this space, after all) when some of us are grabbing the bag?
This is all to say that, earlier this week, I called out Esports Insider for not putting a disclosure on its interview with Ralf Reichert, the former co-founder and chairman of ESL FACEIT Group and the new CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation (I highly encourage you to read it–it’s an exclusive and there’s some good information about Saudi's plans for esports).
Why did this interview need a disclosure? Because, earlier in the month both the International Esports Federation and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund (the Public Investment Fund)-backed mega-entertainment project Qiddiya served as prominent sponsors of the esports business event, ESI: London.
ESI Founder Sam Cooke pushed back slightly on Twitter, noting that this story didn’t need any disclosures because that financial entanglement“...doesn't impact the coverage at all, no. If it was a direct Qiddiya announcement, then yes we should & would have. This was not. No splitting hairs needed here, IESF wasn't involved in the interview/story in question.”
But the PIF has direct financial ties to Qiddiya and the gentleman overseeing the Esports World Cup and the Esports World Cup Foundation is also the president of both the Saudi Esports Federation and the International Esports Federation. ESI also conducted in-person, face-to-face interviews with HRH Prince Faisal earlier in the year and in late-December 2022 and we believe that those visits were paid for by the Saudi government (Note: an ESI rep. told us that the video interview with Prince Faisal was supposed to have a disclaimer, but the process and trip were a new experience for the editorial team and was honest mistake, while the interview in December 2022 was not an “in-person” interview. I accept that this is the truth, and you should too. Of course, a Gamers8 rep. told me this week that members of the royal family only do “in-person” interviews, which turns out not to be true. This is good news because now those two high-ranking family members can answers the 11 questions I posed earlier this month).
My point is, when you have recent financial ties with a company, government, or person, you need to disclose it and let the reader decide if those relationships have had a material impact on your coverage. Full stop.
I have a lot of respect for the editors and writers at ESI (and do I believe they are ethical and honest), but if we’re not noting our entanglements to our readers then it looks like we’re hiding these things on purpose. I’m also pretty surprised to see that the Reichert interview still doesn’t have a disclosure, despite the public discourse.
This is really something that every publication needs to think about, and I’m going to continue to push the public discourse on ethics because it is fundamental to the work we are all doing here. And yes, I apply these standards to myself: here’s an example of a recent mistake I owned publicly. - James Fudge.
All Roads Lead to Riyadh?
At the New Global Sport Conference in Riyadh, the Saudi Esports Federation and Saudi Ministry of Sport announced major plans for esports initiatives and events aimed at bringing a global audience and international competitions into the region.
Last week The Esports Advocate revealed that a number of executives from a number of companies would be attending the event including Moonton Games, G2 Esports, ESL FACEIT Group, Take-Two Interactive, APEX, MMO maker NCSOFT, Savvy Games Group, Sega of America, Sony, Team Vitality, 100 Thieves, Guild Esports, Krafton India, BITKRAFT Ventures, Ubisoft, LGD Gaming, VSPO, Team Falcons, Formula E, Huya, and Ninjas in Pyjamas.
So what big news came out of the event? A LOT.
The leader of Saudi Arabia, HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (commonly referred to as HRH Crown Prince MBS), took the stage at the event Monday to announce the Esports World Cup to be hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at a date to be determined sometime in Summer 2024. The multi-title competition will be held on an annual basis, but precise details on which publishers, game makers, titles, and teams would be involved have not yet been announced. The event will replace its other big event, Gamers8, and appears to be a club-based competition. Gamers8 featured an overall prize pool of more than $45M USD this year.
Other important news coming out of the conference:
Former ESL FACEIT Group Chairman and co-founder Ralf Reichert will serve as the new lead for the Esports World Cup Foundation and report directly to Prince Faisal.
Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) has been acquired by the Esports World Cup Foundation.
Qiddiya—a Public Investment Fund-backed entertainment mega-project in Riyadh which began construction in 2019—was not mentioned but is part of plans related to the Esports World Cup, according to sources.
Official dispatches to third-parties claimed that teams representatives at the conference had committed to participating in the first events in 2024, but some execs we spoke to say they have not made a commitment to participate. Guild Esports was the only team to confirm participation, though we imagine that Team Falcons, which is headquartered in the region, will most definitely be involved.
You can read more about the Esports World Cup on The Esports Advocate—there’s a lot to unpack in this story.
New Guidelines for Smash Community Competitions Spook North American Community
New strict guidelines for Super Smash Bros. competitions from publisher Nintendo caused chaos and confusion in America this week. Fears that these new draconian rules will be applied to other regions such as Europe and North America ran rampant through the community this week on social media.
Esports Illustrated has a fairly in-depth report on this topic, but the bullet points are that grassroots organizers can’t have more than a certain number in-person participants in a single day of competition, and that most ways to generate revenue or promote events are restricted.
Tournaments organizers can not receive compensation from sponsors.
Tournaments organizers can not sell food, beverages, or merchandise.
Tournaments organizers are limited to 200 entrants for offline competitions per day, and 300 entrants online per day.
Tournaments organizers must be classified as "non-profit” and/or run by individuals.
Prize pools are limited to around $5K USD, and limited to around $10K during a 12-month period.
Larger tournament organizers will be able to purchase a license (the cost of this is in the five-figure+ range) in order to have larger events with more participants, but we are not sure if this will give them authorization to have sponsors, charge an entry fee, or find other ways to generate revenues that would make a major Smash competition a viable financial endeavor…
To be continued… Nintendo has always been hyper protective of its intellectual property, often to the detriment of its own communities, so this news is neither shocking nor unexpected.
People on the Move
Here are a selection of the biggest personnel moves in esports, gaming, and other important industries:
As noted earlier, Ralf Reichert left ESL FACEIT Group to join the Saudi’s Esports World Cup Foundation as its new CEO.
Craig Wood is promoted to marketing manager at Tundra Esports.
Nick Dotto is promoted to esports marketing and partnerships manager at MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment).
Bethany Pyles takes on the role of director of Valorant at the Oklahoma City Chargers.
Former Immortals exec Brett McGrew joins Alpine as its new commercial partnership development, Americas.
Aditya "Sabotage" Kumar joins NODWIN Gaming as a producer.
Newzoo Co-Founder & Chairman Peter Warman joins Blocksport as an advisory board member.
Eric Bellefeuille is appointed UX director at Ubisoft Montréal.
Bobby Takei has left Deep Silver Volition to join PUBG Corporation as a senior UI artist.
Jonathan Pelts is promoted to group director of gaming & US sports at YouGov.
Julia Perreira was promoted to senior VP at Veritas Communications.
Ann-Marie Taylor was promoted to head of tech and telecom sales, North America, at Bloomberg.
Tania Missad leaves Warner Bros. Discovery to join Sony Pictures Television as EVP of research, strategy, and analysis.
Tom Peacock leaves his role as head of partnerships at Nottingham Forest FC.
Jordan Schultz joins Bleacher Report as its new NFL insider.
In Other News…
🙏 Is NRG’s League of Legends team North America’s last hope at Worlds 2023?
😈 Adult entertainer Eva Elfie pledges OnlyFans earnings to Dota 2’s TI12 winner.
🤝BLAST reveals partners for BLAST R6 Atlanta Major.
⭐ LeagueSpot continues its partnership with Epic Charter Schools.
🍸 Scotch whiskey company Ballatine’s offers a special Dota 2 promotion in China.
🏆 The Esports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in Esports Class of 2023 revealed.
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with comments from an ESI rep.