TEKKEN 8 Joins the Esports World Cup

The Esports World Cup Foundation has officially confirmed that Namco Bandai’s fighting game, Tekken 8, will be featured as a key title at the 2024 Esports World Cup. The tournament is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July. While the specific financial terms of the agreement remain undisclosed, the inclusion of the franchise follows the precedent set by the 2023 Gamers8 event, which hosted a Tekken 7 Nations Cup featuring a $1 million USD prize pool.

This announcement expands the diverse roster of competitive titles slated for the multi-week festival. Tekken 8 joins a broad lineup of games, including Street Fighter 6, EA Sports FC 24, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and various mobile and battle royale titles. The event is part of a larger, government-backed initiative aimed at establishing Saudi Arabia as a global hub for competitive gaming.

The Esports World Cup is funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and is facilitated by the ESL FACEIT Group, a subsidiary of the Savvy Games Group. The tournament operations are managed in conjunction with the Saudi Esports Federation, leveraging the infrastructure of established entities such as ESL, FACEIT, and DreamHack. Further details regarding the specific competition format, exact dates, and prize distribution for the Tekken 8 tournament are expected to be released in the coming months.