RIYADH, 25 August 2025 — Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud honored the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup 2025 this evening in Riyadh, where His Highness crowned Team Falcons champions of the tournament after they topped the overall standings with 5,200 points.

The winning team took home the grand prize of $7 million out of total tournament prizes exceeding $70 million — the largest prize pool in the history of global esports — distributed among the participating teams and players according to their rankings.

The Crown Prince's presence and his crowning of the winners reflect his continued support for the gaming and esports sector, a fundamental pillar of the National Gaming and Esports Strategy he launched in 2022, which aims to build a sustainable global industry contributing SAR 50 billion to GDP and providing 39,000 jobs by 2030.

The tournament, which ran for seven weeks, drew more than 2,000 professional players from 200 clubs representing 100 countries, competing across 25 championships for the most popular esports titles. This year's edition achieved record public and media turnout, attracting more than 3 million visitors to the "Boulevard Riyadh City" area, while digital viewership surpassed 750 million viewers worldwide, with total watch time exceeding 350 million hours, and competitions broadcast in 35 languages to more than 100 countries.

The tournament also featured more than 1,500 community, cultural and entertainment events that enriched the experience and cemented Riyadh's standing as a global capital of esports, after achieving qualitative leaps in organization, technology and public turnout.

Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, affirmed that the Kingdom succeeded in delivering a truly unique experience that combined the power of competition with a spirit of innovation, praising the great support the Crown Prince extends to this sector.

With this, the Kingdom concludes the second edition of the global tournament, whose idea was launched through a Saudi initiative announced by the Crown Prince in 2023, cementing Riyadh's exceptional standing on the global esports map.