ptkovsky
The Saudi Esports company or The Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic Sports (SAFEIS) was established in 2017. While acting as the main regulatory body in the region, it organized another CS: GO tournament with the $760,000 prize pool.
Saudi Esports
The Arab organization, whose president Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud is a Saudi royal and also the president of Arab eSports Federation, specializes in organizing regional esports competitions.
The organization hosts tournaments in various esports titles, such as Counter-Strike, Rainbow Six Siege and Dota 2.
The Saudi Arabia’s company have already organized multiple esports events in the region, such as eMBS Cup in FIFA 19. The 2019 edition of the tournament was played in May 2019 on PS4 and Xbox.
Saudi Esports Federation Cup Season 1
The current Counter-Strike competition, known as the Saudi Esports Federation Cup Season 1, was just recently held in Jeddah, the Red Sea’s port city and the country’s biggest commercial center.
This regional CS: GO cup was reportedly organized offline at the Error E-Sport Lounge venue.
There were online qualifiers. Single-elimination bracket tournament lasted for two days. Twelve CS: GO teams from Saudi Arabia participated. All matches were Bo3 series.
All the matches were presumably played on FACEIT platform, with the servers hosted in Germany.
The official maps of the tournament were Dust2, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Inferno, Vertigo and Ancient.
There also was a live broadcast of the tournament, available on Twitch.
Team AlHilal took first place and $170,666 prize, with the nearest pursuer AlNassr — they managed to take home $119,466.
Other teams earned from $85,333 to $25,600, depending on their placement.
Here are the final standings of the Saudi Esports Federation Cup Season 1:
- 1st: AlHilal — $170,666;
- 2nd: AlNassr — $119,466;
- 3rd: Mudhar — $85,333;
- 4th: Aladalah — $68,266;
- 5th-6th: Qilwah — $54,666;
- 5th-6th: Najran — $54,666;
- 7th-8th: AlFateh — $42,666;
- 7th-8th: Al Shabab — $42,666;
- 9th-10th: AlBadaya — $34,133;
- 9th-10th: Tabarjal — $34,133;
- 11th-12th: Al Safa — $25,600;
- 11th-12th: Al-Shoulla — $25,600.
Arab gaming, esports and charity initiatives
Saudi Arabia’s gaming and esports scene is in full throttle. The country’s government organized a series of events with the $10 million prize fund, titled Gamers Without Borders, which was well received by the audience.
The event is marketed as one of the world’s largest charity gaming and esports initiatives.
This series of events is an evolution of the similar initiative, known as Games Done Quick, where skilled speedrunners play multiple games, stream the process on Twitch and YouTube, and raise donations for charity purposes.
Gamers Without Borders
Gamers Without Borders is a governmental attempt to address multiple challenges in today’s globalized world landscape, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and global vaccine distribution issues.
The event supports authoritative organizations, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), and International Medical Corps (IMC).
One of the recent championships, The Gamers Without Borders 2021 — a CS: GO competition, which was held in June 2021. The prize pool of the tournament equaled $1,500,000.
The event was organized by the SAFEIS, with the support of ESL, and it was directly sponsored by the Saudi Ministry of Sport.
The tournament consisted of the group stage and playoff matches.
Team BIG from Germany, which stands for Berlin International Gaming, won the first place. Their $600,000 prize was transferred to the International Medical Corps organization.
Brazilian team FURIA Esports placed second, with the $300,000 money donated to UNICEF.
CS: GO team from EU, ENCE and mousesports, occupied 3rd-4th place, their $150,000 prize was also donated for charity purposes.
Swedish Ninjas in Pyjamas placed 5th-6th, as well as another Counter-Strike team from EU — FaZe Clan. Their $100,000 winnings went to Direct Relief and UNICEF respectively.
7th-8th place was divided by MIBR and Dignitas from USA. The teams also transferred their $50,000 prize winnings to UNICEF and GAVI.
Other tournaments of the series included events such as Gamers Without Borders North American Showmatch 2020, where 100 Thieves, which is one of the strongest Australian teams, won against Team Liquid. Both teams raised $250,000 during this showmatch.
The corresponding EU tournament was titled as Gamers Without Borders Show Match 2020, where triumphants were the CIS powerhouse — Na’Vi team from Ukraine.