Esports World Cup: The Contest Teams Can't Afford To Miss

The 2nd Esports World Cup (EWC) has begun successful Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Over nan adjacent 7 weeks, teams from astir nan world will compete crossed 25 games including Call of Duty, League of Legends and EA Sports FC (EA FC).

Up for grabs is simply a stock of $70m (£50m).

There are prizes for individuals and teams but, contempt nan tournament's name, players don't compete for their countries.

Most are members of organisations specified arsenic Team Liquid, 1 of nan world's biggest esports squads.

BBC Newsbeat went down nan scenes astatine their HQ to find retired why nan EWC is truthful important to them, and why they consciousness they can't disregard nan arguable contest.

Located successful Utrecht successful nan Netherlands, Team Liquid's guidelines is portion office, portion video crippled arcade and portion luxury student accommodation.

There are 2 rooms wherever team-mates tin compete head-to-head aliases online, and streaming booths wherever they tin broadcast unrecorded to followers connected Twitch.

Many of Liquid's apical players unrecorded and train successful nan building, wherever an on-site cook provides 3 meals a day, each of them designed to boost attraction and guidance times.

When play is activity and activity is play it's important to separate betwixt nan two, and members show Newsbeat they walk astir 8 hours a time training successful nan run-up to awesome competitions.

One of those is Levi de Weerd.

Like galore others he sewage into EA FC (formerly known arsenic Fifa) arsenic a child.

Now aged 21, he's made playing against nan champion against nan world into a career.

He says being portion of Team Liquid gets him entree to nan high-spec accommodation and knowledgeable coaches.

"We person a gameplay coach, we're analysing games from tournaments successful nan past and successful friends games wherever we effort things out. We person capacity coaches and intelligence coaches too," he says.

Being successful 1 place, he says, is much important than you mightiness think.

"I deliberation it's important to person a bully situation pinch coaches, pinch players and unit to get a bully chemistry", he says.

Because EWC competitors don't correspond their countries, teams are capable to bring successful talent from astir nan world.

YanYa, portion of Team Liquid's Apex Legends squad, joined from his location state of Mexico.

He says nan EWC is "the champion emotion successful nan world because you are playing nan champion players".

"You get a batch of excitement. You get a batch of adrenaline," he says.

Team Liquid are looking to one-up their capacity past year, erstwhile they vanished 2nd wide down Saudi broadside Team Falcons.

YanYa insists that doesn't impact him, though.

"I don't consciousness pressure, I consciousness confident," he says. "We've been practising a lot."

Individual capacity is simply a cardinal portion of nan EWC and location are large rate prizes for winning players.

But location are besides typical bonuses for nan nine title - nan squad that wins nan astir events wide gets $7m (£5m).

More players intends a chance to compete successful much events, and a greater chance of netting that apical prize.

Levi is simply a reasonably caller personnel of Team Liquid, which he joined erstwhile his erstwhile broadside was absorbed into it.

Consolidation - bigger esports teams swallowing smaller ones - and mergers person go much common, and not conscionable because of nan prizes up for grabs.

Multiple esports organisations person gone bust successful caller years aft a monolithic finance roar successful nan segment fizzled out.

Team Liquid's laminitis and co-CEO Victor Goosens says keeping nan money coming successful is much important than ever.

While prize money isn't everything, Victor says nan EWC is financially important for Team Liquid.

"It's different root we tin scheme astir and task our twelvemonth for and that allows america to build nan institution and found ourselves arsenic a sustainable esports organisation", he says.

He says nan squad is "ambitious" pinch its plans to triumph nan nine championship, aft placing 2nd past year.

Victor admits it's basal to compete successful arsenic galore events arsenic imaginable successful bid to return nan apical spot, but that "it's not worthy expanding if your halfway rosters aren't already great".

You request to pull nan champion talent.

So erstwhile online chess was added arsenic an arena astatine this year's Esports World Cup, Team Liquid signed up nan world's apical chess grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana.

Some esports fans person been captious of teams taking portion successful an arena hosted, and mostly funded, by Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom has been accused of galore quality authorities violations and has strict laws restricting what women tin do.

Like different Middle East states it's been heavy criticised for its anti-LGBT laws - homosexuality is punishable by death.

It's heavy invested millions into sport, video games and esports, which critics reason is an effort to boost its nationalist image.

There has been backlash.

Individual players person chosen not to participate, specified arsenic Street Fighter 6 pro Chris CCH, who declined a spot astatine this year's contest aft qualifying via a collaborated event.

But, fixed its ever-growing ties to esports, he admitted that avoiding immoderate Saudi-linked contests altogether would person made it almost intolerable for him to transportation connected competing.

Victor says it's a "sensitive and tricky business to navigate" for Team Liquid, which has publically supported cheery rights.

"We've been very outspoken that we judge successful esports for all," says Victor.

"So there's a contradiction. But we judge that if we want to beryllium astir successful 5 aliases 10 years' clip we request to play astatine nan EWC."