Earphones on the ears and sweat sleeves at their fingertips, esports champions go head-to-head on the popular shooter PUBGfollowed by enthusiastic spectators in front of a giant screen in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia.
The tournament is part of Gamers8, one of the international events that highlights the oil-rich Gulf monarchy’s ambitions in e-sports, a field in which it hopes to compete with powers like China and the United States. South Korea. “Before, there was no support”recalls Fayçal Ghafiri, a 22-year-old Saudi player who took part in the competition on PUBGa game of the type battle royale (the last survivor wins). The overall tournament prize pool is approximately three million dollars. “Thank God now is the best time for me to play [en compétition] and participate in tournaments”he rejoices, delighted that what was once a hobby has become a lucrative business.
As with Formula 1 or golf, Saudi Arabia has taken advantage of its immense wealth in recent years to assert itself on the esports scene, through major conferences and by acquiring companies organizing important competitions. Despite criticism of human rights abuses in the ultra-conservative kingdom, the sector, struggling for long-term funding, is increasingly keen to do business with the Saudis, who are investing heavily.
Tallest in the world
The national esports federation was created in 2017, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – also the subject of a complaint filed in Paris for complicity in torture and enforced disappearance – became leader de factohimself reputed to be a great fan of the famous game call of duty. Since then, the number of esports teams has grown from two to more than 100 in the country. Numerous international studies by experts show the growing importance of the Saudi e-sports market, in a young country where half of the population is under 35 years old.
In January, the kingdom’s wealthy sovereign wealth fund launched Savvy Gaming Group, an organization to develop the video game sector, which bought two major players in the sector for $1.5 billion: ESL, a German esports league; and FACEIT, a specialist UK platform.
Itou, Mohammed ben Salmane launched a national strategy in mid-September which provides for the creation of some 39,000 jobs related to e-sport by 2030 and the production of more than 30 games in studios in the country. Next year, Ryad will also host the Global Esports Games, presented as the “flagship” event of this sport.
“What’s amazing is that the government has put esports front and center, while a lot of countries are still trying to find a positioning”, underlines Chester King, CEO of British Esports, the British e-sports federation. According to him, Saudi investments in this area have become “highest in the world”.
“Morally more flexible”
E-sport is part of the kingdom’s strategy to diversify its economy, which is too dependent on oil, but also to try – often in vain – to improve a particularly disastrous image internationally.
Under pressure from LGBTQ gamers protesting against the criminalization of homosexuality in Saudi Arabia, planned partnerships between players in the sector (Riot Games) and the future Saudi city Neom, under construction on the shores of the Red Sea, have been canceled . “Saudi Arabia’s image will always be an obstacle for the esports community in the West, despite attempts to improve it”notes Jason Delestre, researcher on the geopolitics of esports at the University of Lille.
But according to Tobias Scholz, an esports expert at the University of Siegen in Germany, the world of video games has “always been a bit more morally flexible”being devoid of “sustainable economic model”. “The [différents] e-sports need money compared to golf and others [sports]”, he remarks.
In this context, the International Federation of e-sport is particularly benevolent towards Riyadh, refusing to see in the interest of the kingdom an attempt to whitewash its image. “Laundering has the precondition of starting from something dirty. The culture of Saudi Arabia is beautiful and rich”defends its president Vlad Marinescu.
For his part, Prince Faisal bin Sultan, president of the Saudi Federation of e-sports, prefers to highlight the young Saudi players who told him that they did not have “never imagined having that here. This is the feeling and the image that I want to keep”.