The signing ceremony of the Memorandum of cooperation between Hero Sports VSPO (hereinafter referred to as: Hero Sports) and Saudi esports Federation was held at INS New Park in Shanghai Fuxing Park.

Saudi Esports Federation CEO Turki Alfawzan, Saudi Esports Federation CEO Office Director Ansar Alonaizan, Hero Sports Board Chairman Ying Shuling, Hero Sports co-founder, Chief Financial Officer and head of Global Strategy Office Tang Danni signed the memorandum of cooperation.

As early as February this year, ECO esports first reported that Hero Sports had received 1.8 billion cash ($265 million) investment from Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF. At the beginning of November this year, the investment has passed all anti-monopoly reviews from South Korea, Turkey, the European Union and China, and this signing ceremony is the end of the deal, but also announced the start of Hero Sports and Saudi Arabia in the field of esports a new round of cooperation.

Prior to this, Hero Sports had a deep cooperation with the Saudi esports industry on international esports events such as Gamers8. In the next stage, one of the key points of cooperation between the two sides will be the 2024 Saudi esports World Cup.

Regarding the upcoming Esports World Cup, Turki Alfawzan, CEO of the Saudi Esports Federation, gave an exclusive update to ECO Esports. It can be summarized as follows:

First, Alfawzan said that the esports World Cup will be held in Riyadh starting in July 2024. If nothing else, the tournament will last for eight weeks, ending in August. In addition, the esports World Cup will be a long-term, fixed international esports competition, held once a year;

Secondly, the participating teams of the e-sports World Cup will be e-sports clubs from all over the world, rather than the previous industry forecast, similar to the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup, with the national team as the unit of participation mode;

Finally, Alfawzan told ECO that before the esports World Cup kicks off, the Saudi Esports Federation will hold a series of qualifiers in various regions of the world to decide which clubs will represent their respective countries. Among them, the Asian qualifying tournament will be held in China with the assistance of Hero Sports. It should be noted that the e-sports World Cup qualifiers will not be concentrated in a period of time, but based on different competition events to finalize the schedule of their respective qualifiers.

According to ECO, the Saudi esports Association is still finalizing the selected projects for the 2024 esports World Cup, and more information related to this will be announced around January next year.

The first news about the esports World Cup was announced by Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman on October 23 this year at the New Sports Global Summit. The Esports World Cup is an upgrade from Saudi esports competition Gamers8, which has a total prize pool of $45 million this year, surpassing TI10's total prize pool of $40 million, setting a record prize pool in esports history.

Speaking about the prize money, Alfawzan told ECO that although the total prize money of the esports World Cup can not be revealed at this time, it is only because the current esports World Cup entries have not been fully determined. To be sure, the prize money of the esports World Cup will never be lower than the Gamers8 in 2023. That is to say, if nothing else, the event will set another esports prize money record next year.

Esports and gaming are playing an important role in Bin Salman's Vision 2030. According to the plan, Saudi Arabia aims to establish 250 gaming companies in the region and create 39,000 jobs. By 2030, the contribution of the esports and gaming industry to Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product will increase to $13 billion. According to our statistics, the Saudis spent more than $10 billion on gaming and esports in the first half of 2022 alone.

On December 12, according to Arab News, more than 60 memoranda and agreements were signed during the Saudi delegation's visit to China, with a cumulative contract value of $25 billion. Among them, according to Saudi media reports, the Saudi esports Federation and Hero Sports signed a memorandum of cooperation worth $8.5 billion in the development of esports industry partners.

Saudi Arabia's large investment and government support shows that the country has the resources and willingness to develop the esports industry. However, as a country that started late in the esports industry, Saudi Arabia still needs experience and professional support. On this topic, Alfawzan also talked about why the Saudi electronics industry is working with Hero Sports, and what to expect for the future.

"Joining hands with Hero Sports is one of the most correct decisions for us to develop esports and realize the Saudi Vision 2030, since 2023, the two sides not only represent the link between Chinese esports and Saudi esports industry, but also one of the achievements of the friendship between China and Saudi Arabia." We hope that through close cooperation, we can jointly build a world-class esports IP, and also hope that through cooperation between the two sides, we can more deeply respond to the Belt and Road Initiative and complete the Saudi Vision 2030." Turki Alfawzan said at the memorandum signing ceremony.

The $265 million investment received by Hero Sports this year is the highest investment since the establishment of Hero Sports, and it is also the single highest investment in the domestic sports industry in the past two years, and it is also the first stop for Saudi capital to enter China's e-sports industry. Prior to this, the layout of Saudi capital in the field of e-sports games is mostly in Europe, the United States, Japan and other places. The end of the anti-monopoly review also means that Hero Sports and Savvy this e-sports investment landed smoothly.

The cooperation between the Saudi esports industry and Hero Sports is an important part of Saudi Arabia's strategy to create a global gaming and esports industry hub, and will also support the Saudi esports ecosystem. In the next year, the e-sports World Cup will be the most important stage result since the cooperation between the two sides. After the World Cup, it is worth looking forward to what variables and vitality the two sides will bring to the world esports industry.