- Version1 claim North American section win, with Team Vitality earning European top spot
- Both teams express their delight at qualifying for Gamers8: The Land of Heroes, which takes place in Riyadh from July 6
- World’s best Rocket League teams competed at GWB across four days for their share of a $2 million humanitarian aid prize pool
RIYADH-: Gamers Without Borders (GWB), the world’s largest charitable esports event, saw Version1 win the North American section and Team Vitality win the European section of the Rocket League competition.
Over a four-day period of incredible action, the world’s best Rocket League teams fought for their stake of a $2 million humanitarian aid prize pool at the fourth edition of GBW, which is organized by the Saudi Esports Federation.
Version1 triumphed in the North American section by defeating Koi in the Grand Final 4-0. To reach the Grand Final, Version1 recorded the same scoreline over G2 Esports in the upper bracket final, while Koi overcame G2 Esports 4-2 in the lower bracket final.
Version1 were delighted at qualifying for Gamers8: The Land of Heroes, the biggest esports and gaming festival worldwide, which takes place from July 6 at the purpose-built arena at Boulevard Riyadh City in Saudi Arabia.
A team statement from Version 1 said: “It feels great to qualify for Gamers8: The Land of Heroes as it’s one of the most exciting tournaments of the year for Rocket League, and it’s even better that we won the whole qualifier since that gives us a better seed for the LAN.
“We’re all extremely excited to be going to Riyadh and Gamers8 as we didn’t get the chance to go last year. But we’re able to this year and we feel like we have a good chance of performing really well at the LAN.”
Team Vitality triumphed in the European section by beating Monkeys 4-1 in their Grand Final on Thursday night. Team Vitality entered that event after disposing of Oxygen 4-1 in the upper bracket final, while Monkeys saw off Suhhh 3-0 in the lower bracket final.
A group statement from Team Vitality described the victory as “amazing”, and added: “It wasn’t easy, but winning the GWB event feels great, obviously. We feel like we showed a lot of great things. We were great in pretty much every game mode in every series, and our ability to quickly adapt and change our gameplay from game to game was great to witness.”
Describing the opportunity to participate at Gamers8: The Land of Heroes in Riyadh this summer as “very exciting”, the Team Vitality statement concluded: “It’s going to be our first time at Gamers8, and we’re very excited to take part in this very special tournament, with such a different format, where we believe we have a strong chance to win.”
From a six-week period which began on April 10, GWB is hosting five tournaments across four major gaming titles: StarCraft II, CS:GO (with separate men and women’s events), Rocket League, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege.
Winning teams and players from StarCraft II, Rocket League, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege advance to the finals at Gamers8: The Land of Heroes. A $45 million total prize pool, triple that of Gamers8 last year, awaits.
Players and teams participating at GWB’s 2023 CS:GO, Rocket League, and Rainbow Six Siege tournaments will have the chance to compete for a $10 million charity prize pool. The proceeds will be donated to humanitarian aid partners Direct Relief, IMC, UNICEF, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, World Food Programme (WFP) and UNHCR. They in turn will direct the funds to address a variety of urgent humanitarian needs in the world today.
In addition to the donations through the elite competitions, GWB offers the chance for everyone to donate and make a difference by choosing a charity and a cause they intend to support through www.gamerswithoutborders.com