PUBG Mobile Confirmed for 2025 Esports World Cup

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
PUBG Mobile has been confirmed as a competitive title for the 2025 Esports World Cup, an eight-week event hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
02
The Esports World Cup is a non-profit initiative funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
03
The 2025 tournament will feature a diverse lineup of titles, including Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Dota 2, Street Fighter 6, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, Counter-Strike 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Call of Duty: Warzone.
04
In the previous iteration of the competition, 28 teams competed for a total prize pool of $3 million, with the team Alpha7 emerging as the champion.
05
The event is facilitated by government-linked entities including the Saudi Esports Federation, Savvy Games Group, and the ESL FACEIT Group.
06
Level Infinite, the publisher of PUBG Mobile, is a global gaming brand under the Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings.

Summary

Level Infinite and the Esports World Cup Foundation have officially confirmed that the mobile battle royale title PUBG Mobile will return as a featured competitive game for the 2025 Esports World Cup. This event, which spans eight weeks, is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The inclusion of PUBG Mobile aligns it with a diverse roster of other confirmed titles, including Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Dota 2, Street Fighter 6, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, Counter-Strike 2, and the Call of Duty franchise.

The Esports World Cup is a government-funded initiative supported by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). The tournament is managed through a network of entities with close ties to the Saudi government, including the Saudi Esports Federation, Savvy Games Group, and the ESL FACEIT Group. These organizations collaborate to facilitate the logistics and operations of the multi-week international competition.

Historical data from the previous iteration of the event highlights the scale of the competition, which featured 28 teams vying for a total prize pool of $3 million USD. In that instance, the team Alpha7 secured the championship title. The confirmation of PUBG Mobile for the 2025 calendar underscores the continued investment and strategic focus on mobile gaming within the broader global esports landscape, supported by significant financial backing from the Saudi government’s sports grants.