Taking over from the previous Gamers8 tournaments, the Esports World Cup will boast a staggering US$60 million prize pool, as it aims to be the largest esports event to date.

However, its location in Saudi Arabia, a country criticized for its human rights record, has sparked debate within the gaming community.

The tournament will feature 20 distinct tournaments across a variety of titles, and they include:

Each tournament will follow a unique format while contributing to the larger Club Championship.

This innovative competition will award US$20 million to the top 16 clubs based on their performance across multiple titles.

The prize pool distribution includes over US$33 million for individual game tournaments, US$20 million for the Club Championship, US$1.1 million for MVP awards, and US$7.6 million for qualifying rewards.

The significant investment reflects the organizers’ commitment to fostering the global esports industry and providing substantial opportunities for players and clubs.

Despite the financial allure, the event’s association with Saudi Arabia has drawn criticism.

The country’s track record on LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality, and free speech clashes with the inclusive values often espoused by the gaming community.

However, for many esports organizations grappling with financial challenges, the opportunity to compete for such substantial prizes may outweigh ethical concerns.

The Esports World Cup represents a pivotal moment for esports, aiming to elevate the industry to the scale of traditional sports events like the Olympics.

With the backing of the Saudi Arabian government and a clear vision for growth, the tournament seeks to establish Riyadh as a global hub for gaming and esports.

As preparations for the event continue, details regarding specific tournament formats, dates, and prize pool distributions will be eagerly awaited by fans and participants alike.

While the debate over the tournament’s location may persist, the Esports World Cup signals a significant milestone in the continued evolution of competitive gaming on the world stage.

#EsportsWorldCup 2024 prize pool in a nutshell:
$30,000,000+ | Game Championships
$20,000,000 | Club Championship
$7,600,000 | Qualifiers
$1,100,000 | MVP Awards pic.twitter.com/LNGa1v8V8e

— Esports World Cup (@ESWCgg) April 16, 2024

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Despite a strong showing from RRQ Hoshi, the Indonesian squad was ultimately defeated and relegated to the Lower Bracket. They will now hope to build momentum from the lower bracket if they hope to remain in the tournament.

The first round of the match saw RRQ Hoshi take an early lead with a strong performance from their star player R7. However, Blacklist International quickly evened the score in the next round thanks to a standout performance from OHEB.

The Filipino squad then went on to win the following round, with Wise and OHEB continuing to shine. RRQ Hoshi managed to bounce back and win the fourth round, forcing a tie and as such, a decider round, with pro player VYN registering himself as the top performer in the round.

The decisive fifth round saw Blacklist International come out on top, securing their spot in the Upper Bracket Finals. They will now face the winner of the Onic vs. Echo match, which is set to take place on January 12th.

According to Esports Charts, the match between Blacklist and RRQ Hoshi set a new record for the highest viewership in MLBB history, with over 4.2 million people tuning in to watch the contest. The two teams have a large fan base, and it was the first time they had faced each other in the tournament.

“All the matches have been very exciting, but there was a particular one that caught everyone’s attention. Title holders Blacklist International faced the hometown team of RRQ Hoshi, in a game that shattered the ML:BB esports viewership record. Both teams are title contenders, so fans from across the globe made sure to tune into the match, which achieved an astonishing 4.2 million Peak Viewers,” the data aggregator said.

“With this, M4 World Championship became the most popular ML:BB esports event ever, surpassing the M3 World Championship, which achieved 3.1 million PV. It��s now also the third most popular esports event of all time, with ML:BB now having four events in the top ten, tying League of Legends.”

RRQ Hoshi now faces a must-win match against Falcon Esports, who recently defeated Turkish team Incendio. Esports betting sites like GG.BET pegs Hoshi as favorites to win the fixture with odds set at $1.36 as opposed to Falcon’s odds designated at $3.03. The Indonesian squad will need to win all their remaining matches in order to reach the Grand Finals, as a single loss will eliminate them from the tournament.

As the competition draws to a close, the remaining teams are eagerly competing for the chance to take home the trophy and the $300,000 prize money allotted by the publisher of the esports title, Moonton. Each squad is expected to put their best foot forward in the coming rounds in hopes of claiming victory. The event is being broadcast across multiple platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and TikTok, in multiple languages for fans around the world to follow along.

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The organizers of the event, Moonton, made a statement to that effect, explaining its reason for the change of venue.

“To our fans and players,
The M4 World Championship is now less than a month away, with preparations for the international tournament moving along. However, a recent unfortunate incident came to our attention concerning the XO Hall, a well-loved venue by many MPL ID fans,” the statement read.

In the statement, the organizers announce that the original venue for the group stage, which is scheduled to run from January 1-4, XO Hall, has been moved to Bali United Studio. The knockout stage which was to be held at the Istora Senayan GBK, will now take place at the Tennis Indoor Stadium Senayan and run through January 7-15.

“Due to these unforeseen circumstances and in order to provide the best possible experience for fans, we have decided to move the Group Stage venue to the Bali United Studio and the Knockout Stage venue to the Tennis Indoor Stadium Senayan,” the organizers said.

“This is done to ensure that we can provide a safe and conducive experience for our teams, fans, and gaming community.”

MOONTON has cited “a recent unfortunate incident” as the reason behind the change of venue for the Group Stage of its event. The XO Hall, which was originally scheduled to host the Group Stage, experienced a fire on December 5th. Despite being successfully contained, it is deemed inappropriate to hold the M4 event at the venue in such a short time following the incident.

The organizers also informed ticket holders that the new venues for the event will have less seating space than the original venue, and as a result, some ticket holders will be issued refunds. In addition to the refund, MOONTON announced that those impacted ticket holders for the knockout stage will also receive 250 MLBB in-game diamonds as compensation.

This is the case because the Istora Senayan GBK holds an estimated capacity of over 7000, while the Tennis Indoor Stadium Senayan has a seating capacity of about 3300.

“Due to the venue change, there will be reduced seating capacity for the Knockout Stage, and we will be refunding tickets accordingly for those affected,” the statement added.

“Impacted Knockout Stage ticketholders will be issued 250 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in-game diamonds as compensation. For more details on in-game compensation, please look out for an announcement email from our ticket provider, blibli. The M4 team seeks your kind consideration and understanding of this matter.”

The M4 is scheduled to commence on January 1, 2023, in Indonesia and will have a prize pool of $800,000. As the largest Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event in the calendar, its previous edition in late 2021 garnered almost 3.2 million peak viewers, as reported by Esports Charts. The M3 event had more peak viewers than PGL Major Stockholm 2021 and held the record as the fourth most-watched esports event of 2021.

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In doing so, the Tencent-owned company sued Moonton Games for having stolen its IP in the creation of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang to say the least.

In 2017, Riot Games had sued Moonton for replicating its LoL designs but had the case dismissed (more of this to be discussed further). With no headway in their previous lawsuit, Riot has filed a different lawsuit against Moonton Games at the Los Angeles Federal Court. While the basis of this lawsuit is directed towards the mobile version of Moonton’s flagship MOBA Mobile Legends: Bang Bang on the same notion of copying its designs.

Riot Games sues Bytedance’s subsidiary for ripping off its League of Legends.

Riot Games took to the legal route and sued Moonton for ripping off the League of Legends back in 2017. The accusations were, however, dismissed by the Los Angeles Federal court on the basis that the case ought to be tried under Chinese laws and not that of the United States of America. Coming from a giant within the gaming industry, the accusations were quite heavy and not without its consequences.

Fast forward to March 2021, Moonton was acquired by Bytedance’s video gaming unit, Nuverse for a whopping $4 billion. Bytedance, who are the owners of Tiktok has allowed the Shanghai-based gaming studio to run independently.

Responding to the acquisition, Bytedance had stated that drawing lessons and insights from Moonton’s rapid growth are a plus for the acceleration of its Nuverse platform.

��Through cross-team collaboration and drawing on lessons and insights from its own rapid growth, Moonton provides the strategic support needed to accelerate Nuverse��s global gaming offerings,��

With Bytedance taking a liking to the video gaming industry, it has placed the multinational internet technology company in direct competition with the Chinese giant, Tencent owners of Riot Games.

Moonton was founded by a former Tencent staff and is highly known for its Mobile Legends MOBA title. The company was also bidded on by Tencent, as the technology and entertainment conglomerate was looking to acquire the brand. Bytedance matched their bid and was victorious in the purchase to the detriment of Tencent.

While Riot’s MOBA, League of Legends: Wild Riot is not readily available globally, the mobile title has garnered tons of interest and will surely be one for the books when it’s released worldwide. On the other hand, Moonton’s mobile title, Mobile Legends Bang Bang has received massive popularity with over 500 million downloads across all compatible devices.

The accusation leveled against Moonton, suggests that they lifted several elements of their LoL title including, character designs and skillsets. Also allegedly ripped off were the Riot Games’ promotional videos (character trailers and events).

Riot Game had also sued Suga Pte Ltd with the same accusation leveled against the Singapore-based organization. We look forward to the outcome of the lawsuit and the verdict from the Los Angeles Federal Court.

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