Esports World Cup Taking Shape

The world of esports is going to the big stage this summer as the Esports World Cup is set to be held in Saudi Arabia. An introductory announcement was made back in October to set the stage for the Esports world cup, but now more information is trickling out.

On Wednesday, the first five Esports World Cup titles have been announced, and they represent a wide range of games. The ultimate goal was to bring players from all different walks of the esports industry, and it appears that it is going to happen.

This announcement was made via an official press release, and five of the games that will be featured include:

Counter-Strike 2
Dota 2
Honor of Kings
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
StarCraft II

These are not all of the games that are going to be featured during this event, but it is a group of games that should excite most players and fans. The inclusion of StarCraft is a nod to the earliest days of esports and it should reward those that have been playing the game for years.

Esports actually started through personal computers and gaming laptops, but things have grown in huge ways over the last decade. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a nod to the evolution of these games being played on a mobile device.

While a majority of the top esports games are now played by competitors all over the world, that’s not the case with some of the smaller games. This press release from the ESports World Cup highlighted each region of the world that plays the games the most.

Counter-Strike 2 is popular in Germany, and that has spread to other countries in Europe as well. Dota 2 has a massive following in Seattle, Washington, with it spreading throughout the United States.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has become a huge hit in Shanghai China, while Honor of Kings is popular in Shenzhen, China. StarCraft II become a popular game throughout the world, but much of the early action was played in Seoul, South Korea.

Honor of Kings is Spreading

The best players and teams for Honor of Kings are going to come from Asia, but this game is now spreading to other parts of the world. In order to prepare others for the Esports World Cup, the game is now available to play in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

This game was first launched back in 2015, but it has continued to be enjoyed by players in Asia up until recently. Level Infinite is the developer of this game, and it finally announced that players in the MENA Region can get in on the action.

At the Esports World Cup, there will be a $3 million prize on the line for the top Honor of Kings team, and there will be 12 teams competing for the top spot. Later this year, Level Infinite has plans to launch the same in North and South America as well.

Mobile Legends Makes Big Move

Back in December 2023, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang made some waves when it announced that it was launching a collegiate league in North America. That league officially launched back in January, and that should get an entirely new generation on the sport.

This move was made in order to make the game more popular in North America as that hasn’t been the case in recent years. When the M5 World Championship was held back in 2023, there was just one team from the United States competing.

There are around 20 different colleges and universities that were represented in the league this year, and that number is expected to grow in the future.