Esports and gaming at large have become an integral part of the Saudi Arabian Government’s push to diversify beyond the country’s reliance on oil. Now, thanks to growing investment in the sector—events like the Gamers8 have been made possible—where esports professionals from across the world come to compete at an international level in a number of titles for big prize pools.
We had the opportunity to interview His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Bin Bandar Al Saud, Chairman of the Saudi Arabia esports Federation about how this Gamers8 season panned out, what are his thoughts on esports painting a new narrative for the ‘creator economy,’ and if India and Saudi Arabia can collaborate in the realm of esports.
Speaking to News18 Tech, HRH Prince Faisal said that this year’s Gamers8 has been a “great season," and the event, which lasts for a total of 8 weeks, had a total of “12 tournaments, in different games." He notes that while this season was heavy on work and competitiveness, but at the “end of the day, the chance to bring people together, the chance to have people visit here (Gamers8), and see for themselves what’s happening on-ground, and the chance to showcase our community, and our young men and women—and the talent that we have here—is the core of everything."
News18 Tech: How do you see collaboration opportunities between India and Saudi Arabia in the realm of esports moving forward?
HRH Prince Faisal Bin Bandar: The chairman notes that “there’s so much room for collaboration. We have been talking to the Indian federation and the South Asian federation because there’s so much to do, and when you talk at the federation level, it has to happen at the grassroots." And this lets you “talk to people from different regions, get their points of view, and get their insights."
He added: “So, working with the Indian federation, and working with many other federations—not just for tournaments—but also ‘cultural missions,’ where we can come home in a way—bring our young Saudis to India, and see what’s happening face-to-face."
He also recalled his first time at the Asian Games when it was the first time that esports was a part of the event. He remembers that “a number of federations sat down, and everyone was a little nervous—not knowing what’s going on." He said it was then that some of the players started talking, exchanging gamer tags, and remembering their time playing games. “Suddenly—all these people from thousands of miles away—were friends. That’s something that only gaming can do!" he said. He further notes that as a federation, it’s his job to facilitate this at a “grassroots level."
The Gamers8: Land of Heroes event is now over and had a total of $45 million in overall prize pool distributed across various competitions during a span of 8 weeks—from July to September. It was followed by the Next World Forum, where more than 2500+ delegates, industry experts came to share their insights about gaming, esports, AI and how big-name acquisitions like Microsoft may shape the industry.
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