Honor of Kings officially announced,Honor of Kings x Esports World Cup and Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason (HoKxEWC) were officially launched. This competition will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in August, with a total prize pool of US$3 million (approximately RMB 21 million), and 12 top teams from all over the world will participate.
The 2024 KPL Dream Team will also go out. The remaining 11 overseas participating teams include: outstanding teams determined by the "Glory of Kings" Intercontinental Invitational Tournament S2, and newly released regional teams that have received direct invitations.
"Honor of Kings" officials also announced that HoK will cooperate with EWC to design and launch an e-sports theme skin.
It is reported that Saudi Arabia announced last year that it would host the annual E-Sports World Cup starting in 2024.
Sports, esports and gaming are part of Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030”, in which the Saudi government will spend hundreds of billions of dollars to diversify the country’s economy and gradually reduce its dependence on oil.
Saudi Arabia hopes to achieve the ultimate goal of improving the country's image by continuing to increase investment in these two industries, hoping to become a "global gaming center."
According to the plan, Saudi Arabia aims to establish 250 local gaming companies, create 39,000 jobs, and increase the contribution of the gaming and e-sports industry to Saudi Arabia’s GDP to 50 billion Saudi Riyals (approximately RMB 97.4 billion) by 2030.