Free Fire added to Esports World Cup games list
On February 22, Garena shared some exciting news with fans about perhaps its most famous video game, Free Fire. The leading global online games developer revealed that the battle royale shooter will be part of the inaugural Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this summer.
The Esports World Cup: Free Fire will witness 18 teams compete for a slice of the $1,000,000 prize pool from July 10 to 14. These sides will make their way from five local Free Fire tournaments and ESL's Free Fire Snapdragon Pro Series and compete in the Group Stage over the first three days before the best 12 proceed to the Finals over the last two days.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, said:
"Free Fire has been a major force in mobile esports, pushing boundaries and setting records. Our summer event brings together the best games, and the Esports World Cup: Free Fire is a natural fit. It is a prestigious competition that shows the power of esports to unite players and fans worldwide. Get ready for an epic battle royale showdown in Riyadh!"
Additionally, the champion will secure a ticket to the Free Fire's largest tournament of the year — the Free Fire World Series Global Finals 2024 in Brazil this November. The South American country hosted the inaugural edition, in 2019, with one of its teams — Magic Squad — reigning over the discipline as the current world champion.
It was only last month that Garena disclosed the 2024 esports roadmap for the game. Important details included a return to the Free Fire World Series model and a debuting mid-year global tournament, details for which are not disclosed yet.
Free Fire Producer at Garena, Harold Teo, had this to say about this massive news.
"We are honored to be a part of the widely anticipated first edition of the Esports World Cup. The team is working closely with the EWC Foundation to deliver an unforgettable Free Fire esports experience, and we cannot wait to unveil our plans to our global community, especially our players in the region."
Free Fire joins five other titles at EWC
Garena's smartphone offering is not the first big-ticket esports game to confirm a spot at the Esports World Cup. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Honor of Kings, and StarCraft II were the first five games to enter the Esports World Cup.
As per the official statement, these titles represent a wide range of esports fans and players. StarCraft stands for the OG esports crowd, one of the first bigger esports scenes to ever exist, while CS2 is seen as a "new era" of esports titles.
MLBB is a mobile game that shows how esports is evolving in so many different directions. Its Southeast Asia Cup was also replaced by the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup (MSC). Alongside the MLBB Women's Invitational (MWI), this competition will also head to the West Asian country's capital.
For those not in the know, this multi-discipline tournament is replacing a similar event, Gamers8, which had existed as one of the highest-paying competitions involving games like Rocket League, Dota 2, PUBG, CS2, Street Fighter, PUBG Mobile, and Rainbow 6. As per our database, the highest prize pool was for the Riyadh Masters 2023 at $15,120,000, a massive amount for any esports event.
This Dota 2 tournament also remains the series' most popular and watched competition. The latter figure is 166% better than the next-best entry on the list, the Gamers8 2023, a CS 2 event.
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