The inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) drew in more than 500 million global viewers, with the digital battle taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
$60 million in prize money was on the line for games including Call of Duty MW3, Starcraft 2, and EA FC 24, with $20 million set aside specifically for the Club Championship, allocated across the top 16 finishers.
Each team at the EWC can field members across all the games with representation in individual competitions. So a team can have a player in the Street Fighter and the Call of Duty MW3 single or team competitions, with their overall ranking contributing to their spot in the Club Championship.
The first-ever winner of this year’s event was Team Faclon. They took home a 7 million dollar prize pot for their overall ranking score of 5665. They snapped up the gold in Call of Duty: Warzone and the Free Fire competitions.
The first-placed team also boosted their position with four silver across Apex Legends, MLBB, Tekken 8, and Rocket League.
The top five place and their share of the prize pot after the big winners were; Team Liquid (2,545 points, $4 million), Team BDS (2,000 points, $2 million), Team Vitality (1,650 points, $1.5 million) and T1 (1,600 points, $1.25 million).
Portuguese EA FC star Jafonso who narrowly made the grade to the final via Last Chance Qualifier took home the gold in a win that reduced him to tears.
WE CAN'T SAY MORE THAN… VAMOOOOOOOOS @jafonsogv DEFEATS @Young192_ 6-2! #EsportsWorldCup #FC24 pic.twitter.com/PRFlUL5fyB
— Esports World Cup (@EWC_EN) August 18, 2024
The EWC COD MW3 Championship was decided on Sunday, with Atlanta FaZe beating 100 Thieves 4-2 in a close run contest.
FaZe were imperious during the competition, with star player Drahz winning the plaudits after he “got moving — snaking, juking, and then jumping with the Renetti burst pistol to finish one of the most unlikely gunfight wins of the tournament! The round exemplified the raw skill displayed by the FaZe Clan roster throughout their epic tournament run,” said the match report.
Clem’s win over Serral in the battle to become the first Starcraft 2 EWC champ was decided spectacularly, whipping his opponent 5-0 in the process. Clem has reignited the Terran faction as a consequence and gave global players a lot to think about.
IT'S OVER!! @Clem_sc2 TAKES IT 5-0!!! pic.twitter.com/gwIGIIPv9g
— Esports World Cup (@EWC_EN) August 18, 2024
The EWC Foundation has already confirmed a return to Riyadh in July and August 2025. Ralf Reichert, CEO, of the foundation said “I’m proud of accomplishing what we set out to do: bringing together the best games, Clubs and players, offering a life-changing prize pool and building the world’s largest esports festival. Congratulations to Team Falcons, who were rewarded for their competitive excellence and investment across many new games by becoming the first Esports World Cup Club Champion.”
Image: EWC
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