Internal Esports World Cup document includes Valorant in 2025 event lineup

Valorant and Valorant Game Changers, the game’s professional circuit for women and marginalized genders, are included in an internal 2025 Esports World Cup document that details a near-final lineup of games and events that will be present at the tournament.

League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics, two other titles from Valorant developer Riot Games, are listed as returning to the Esports World Cup in 2025 in the document.

The document, which was viewed by ReaderGrev, characterizes the lineup as all but confirmed. Though the document includes language that suggests the list has not been formally finalized, the number of events in the document, 25, matches the number of slots for announced and teased events on the Esports World Cup countdown website, which is visible to the public.¹

In a statement, a Riot spokesperson categorically denied that Game Changers would be in the 2025 lineup, and said discussions about its games appearing at the Esports World Cup were ongoing.

“We’ve been in discussions about granting a license for the inclusion of League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and VALORANT in the Esports World Cup,” the spokesperson said. “While we’re carefully evaluating this opportunity, there is no agreement in place. It’s also worth clarifying that we are not considering adding VCT Game Changers to the lineup next year.”

The Riot spokesperson added that the Esports World Cup had not asked Riot about hosting a differently branded Valorant competition for women at the 2025 event.

The Esports World Cup is an annual esports tournament series featuring a wide assortment of games and a massive prize pool exceeding $60 million. The event takes place in Riyadh, and is backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is controlled by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince, who is also known as MBS, has been characterized as a “massive gamer” by the CEO of Savvy Games Group, a video game holding company also backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

Valorant was not played at the Esports World Cup in 2024.

The presence of Game Changers in the tentative lineup is noteworthy. Some Valorant Game Changers teams include openly queer, trans and non-binary players and staff. Saudi Arabia is considered hostile to LGBTQ+ people by reputable human rights groups. The U.S. State Department travel guide for Saudi Arabia notes that same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in the country: “Potential penalties include fines, jail time, or death.” Nontraditional gender expression is also criminalized.

The State Department guide also includes a lengthy rundown of local rules and restrictions for women traveling to Saudi Arabia.

Questions sent to the Esports World Cup, including about the event’s policy toward LGBTQ+ players, went unanswered. Requests for comment were sent Thursday to the Esports World Cup Foundation, the Saudi-backed nonprofit which runs the tournament series, and to PR representatives for the EWC. ReaderGrev did not receive a response in time for publication.

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The Esports World Cup Foundation said its 2024 event drew 500 million viewers over its eight-week span. Still the event has drawn mixed reactions from fans of competitive gaming. Some have refused to acknowledge the event, characterizing it as a Saudi sportswashing effort — an attempt to divert attention away from the kingdom’s human rights abuses with flashy events.² Saudi Arabia’s massive investments in sports such as soccer and golf have drawn similar complaints.

The kingdom has invested billions into the video game and esports industries — and plans to invest more in service of Vision 2030, a government initiative to diversify the country’s economy. One spokesperson for Savvy, the Saudi-backed holding company, told the New York Times in July that the company owned “40 percent of the total esports market share.”

The acquisition spree and resulting consolidation have made it difficult for video game companies to avoid Saudi money — particularly esports organizations, few of which are profitable. Some have embraced the Saudi funding as a lifeline amid a challenging economic environment for esports teams. Organizations that partnered with the Esports World Cup in 2024, for example, received stipends to fund the acquisition of new teams and expansion into new titles.

Recent announcements suggest the money will continue to flow.

“A six-figure base reward will be provided to all clubs in the program equally,” Faisal Bin Homran, chief product officer at the Esports World Cup Foundation, told Forbes earlier this month, referring to the Foundation’s highly-selective Club Partner Program. Bin Homran added that participation in certain “campaigns, initiatives and activities” would be rewarded, too: “Top performing clubs can earn up to $1 million per year.”

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1. This public countdown includes two events that will be announced on the same day, just hours apart. Cross-referencing that public list with the private list viewed by ReaderGrev, Valorant is the only game yet to be announced that, per the internal document, might be expected to be split across two tournaments (for men and women) at the Esports World Cup.

2. And incidentally, cultivate fans and defenders in the process.