The Esports World Cup, the multi-title esports event organised by the Esports World Cup Foundation, has officially announced the first game title to be featured for the upcoming 2025 edition.
FPS game and video game franchise Call of Duty will be featured at the 2025 Esports World Cup with its latest instalment, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
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Officially launched last month, the game will replace Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was part of the competition’s 2024 edition. This year’s tournament was won by Atlanta Faze, who took home the trophy and $600,000 (~£470,749) in prize money. The total prize pool of the tournament was $1.8m (~£1.4m).
The prize pool for EWC’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 event has yet to be revealed.
Aside from Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Warzone was also among the EWC game titles earlier this year. The battle royale shooter featured 21 teams competing for a share of the $1m (~£784,581) prize pool. The two titles were actually the last additions in last year’s event, which increased the number of competitions to 22. Other game titles included Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and many others.
The Esports World Cup made headlines thanks to its $60m (~£47m) prize pool and its EWC Club Program, an initiative built to support 30 esports organisations by providing them with funding and helping teams expand across multiple game titles.
The EWC is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme to diversify its economy. It comes as Saudi Arabia has invested billions into esports — including buying and forming the ESL FACEIT Group and investing in key stakeholders such as Chinese tournament organiser Hero Esports.
The Esports World Cup Foundation, the organisers behind the event, is backed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. This has been viewed as a controversial move by sections of the community as the country bids to position itself as a hub for esports, largely due to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
