Esports World Cup announces Mastercard as latest partner

The Esports World Cup, a multi-title esports competition organised by the Esports World Cup Foundation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has announced finance company Mastercard as its new partner.

Mastercard will host a booth, organise giveaways and activations, and work with the EWC on a digital payment system for visitors.

The partnership between Mastercard and the Esports World Cup will be focused more on on-site activations and fan engagement, rather than the technology that the company is most known for. However, Mastercard did say that “seamless digital payments” are a part of the deal.

In addition, Mastercard will hold weekly tournaments for visitors and hand out rewards for the best performers. Mastercard will also field a booth during the event, where meet and greets will be hosted with Saudi esports players and personalities.

Now underway, the Esports World Cup is the world’s largest gaming and esports event, featuring more than 20 tournaments and a total prize pool of just over $60m. The tournament, which is taking during July and August in Saudi Arabia, has attracted criticism from sections of the esports community for alleged ‘esportswashing’ due to the Saudi Arabian government’s history of human rights violations.

Maria Medvedeva, the Country Manager for Saudi Arabia & Bahrain at Mastercard, commented: “With Saudi Arabia being home to some of the most skilled and dedicated gamers in the world, we are proud to contribute to the development of the Kingdom’s gaming industry in line with Vision 2030 and in tandem with Saudi Esports Federation (SEF).

“We look forward to further strengthening our long-standing partnership with SEF to fuel the robust gaming ecosystem in the Kingdom. We look forward to welcoming people from all over the world to EWC.”