2024-04-17 06:58:01
Last year, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia announced that it would host the Esports World Cup (later EWC) for the first time. The organizer, the Esports World Cup Foundation, today (17th) announced the competition project and more than 60 million US dollars (approximately NT$1.94 billion) in total prize money. However, after the official announcement of the game “Apex Legends”, it caused concerns among the LGBTQIA+ community because local laws prohibit same-sex couples and sexual behavior.
EWC 2024 is expected to kick off this summer in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. For eight weeks, the world’s top teams and publishers will gather together to compete in “Apex Legends”, “CS2”, “Dota 2”, “EA Sports FC 24” , “Fortress Heroes”, “League of Legends”, “StarCraft II”, “Strike 6” and “Tekken 8″… and other 19 games.
Among them, the announcement that “Apex Legends” has become a competitive game has attracted protests from some fans. Since 2019, this first-person shooter game has begun to reveal or launch characters with diverse backgrounds, such as Gibraltar (gay), Bloodhound (non-binary) gender), Sil (pansexual), Ji Huaji (transgender), Loba (bisexual), etc.
However, EWC 2024 is hosted by Saudi Arabian law, which follows Islamic law and criminalizes premarital sex, same-sex marriage, and gay sex as “immoral and indecent.” The local LGBTQIA+ group is persecuted, and faces the death penalty in the most serious cases. Lynching, whipping and other tortures.
Do I need a caption https://t.co/hxoDnM2Dra pic.twitter.com/iTyIt3zTuX
— lena (@wlweavski) April 12, 2024
Considering Saudi Arabia’s laws, LGBTQIA+ players and supporters have tweeted, asking (half-jokingly) whether these multi-ethnic characters can be used in this event, or what impact will be suffered for openly queer players to participate, although The organizer did not respond directly.Foreign media Kotaku contacted Respawn and confirmed thatPlayers will not be restricted from using any queer characters or looks.
“We are not changing the rules of the game – all heroes will be playable,” a Respawn Entertainment statement read. “There will be no restrictions on all Apex Legends content, heroes, and costumes during the EWC.”
Even though the wave of layoffs in the video game industry has no end in sight and many e-sports events have reduced their prize pools, EWC 2024 still provides a total prize pool of more than 60 million US dollars, surpassing the record of 45 million US dollars set by Gamers8, an e-sports event held in Saudi Arabia in the past. The event will Taking place at four separate venues and including two concerts, six drone and pyrotechnic displays, organizers expect more than 2.9 million fans to attend.
CEO of Esports World Cup Foundation Ralf Reichert sayshoping to send a positive message to the gaming community, this investment proves to fans the commitment of “top events” and “life-changing” prize money to provide meaningful competition opportunities for players around the world.
E-sports teams can first choose which competition events to participate in, and the team with the best performance in each event will be crowned the ultimate champion of EWC 2024.
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