∙ Incredible sum from world’s largest charitable esports event donated to Direct Relief, International Medical Corps (IMC), UNICEF, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, World Food Programme (WFP) and UNHCR
∙ ‘Gamers Without Borders: Gaming For Good has exceeded our biggest hopes and proven once again how powerful gaming and esports can be as a force for good’ – Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, Chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation
∙ ‘The support we receive from players in the Gamers Without Borders tournaments is essential to our work around the world helping people affected by conflict, disaster and disease’ – Rebecca Milner, Chief Advancement Officer, International Medical Corps
RIYADH-: Gamers Without Borders (GWB), the world’s largest charitable esports event, has concluded this year’s edition by raising an incredible total of $10 million for its humanitarian aid partners.
Direct Relief, International Medical Corps (IMC), UNICEF, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, World Food Programme (WFP) and UNHCR will all benefit following donations from teams, players and the generosity of gamers from across the globe. The funds will be directed to addressing a variety of urgent humanitarian needs in the world today and add to the incredible work achieved through the $30 million donations from GWB’s three previous editions.
Organized and held virtually by the Saudi Esports Federation, this year’s event was held under the banner of Gamers Without Borders: Gaming For Good.
From April 10, six weeks of sensational action saw GWB host five incredible tournaments across four major gaming titles: StarCraft II, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), which had men’s and women’s events, Rocket League, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege. One particularly special moment saw NAVI Javelins triumph at the first all-women CS:GO tournament at GWB to claim a $1 million prize for charity.
Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, Chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation, said: “Gamers Without Borders: Gaming For Good has exceeded our biggest hopes and proven once again how powerful gaming and esports can be as a force for good. The global gaming community has come together in their droves to provide resources that can make a sizeable change in the lives of people less fortunate than us.
“Everyone at the Saudi Esports Federation is exceptionally proud of Gamers Without Borders and what it has helped achieve in the world. None of this, however, is possible without the help of our humanitarian aid partners and the support of gamers from every corner of the planet. We thank all of them immensely.”
Rebecca Milner, Chief Advancement Officer, International Medical Corps, said: “The support we receive from players in the Gamers Without Borders tournaments is essential to our work around the world helping people affected by conflict, disaster and disease. For example, gamers who choose us can make a real difference now in the lives of innocent men, women and children affected by the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey, and who are caught up in the conflicts in Ukraine, Yemen or any of the other 30 countries where we provide medical services and training.”
As an added layer of intrigue to GWB this year, winning teams and players from StarCraft II, Rocket League, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege have all advanced to the finals of Gamers8: The Land of Heroes. Two teams from the men’s CS:GO tournament also qualified. The world’s biggest gaming and esports festival starts on July 6 for eight weeks at the purpose-built arena at Boulevard Riyadh City in the Saudi Arabian capital city. This year, Gamers8: The Land of Heroes has a $45 million total prize pool – triple that of Gamers8 in 2022. Details of all the incredible titles appearing at Gamers8 this summer will be released in the near future.