A larger prize pool and more games are featured at the second Esports Club World Cup currently taking place in Saudi Arabia. Emmy-winning filmmaker and director of the five-part documentary “Esports World Cup: Level Up”, R.J. Cutler, sits down with CNN’s Eleni Giokos to talk about how thrilling it is to be witnessing “the birth of a sport” in Esports’ rapid growth.

Riyadh

The Esports World Cup in Riyadh is being hailed as a milestone in the development of competitive gaming, with commentators comparing its emergence to the early days of major global sporting events. The event brings together a diverse range of games and players, highlighting the sport's growing popularity and cultural significance.

Saudi Arabia's investment in esports is evident through the construction of dedicated arenas and the commitment to hosting the World Cup as an annual global event. Prize pools have increased from $60 million to $70 million, and the inclusion of new games such as chess, featuring top players like Magnus Carlsen, reflects the event's expanding reach and ambition.

Excitement builds around the rapid growth of Esports

It's thrilling to be telling these stories because we're seeing the birth of a sport And not just the birth of an iconic competition, which is the eSports World Cup But really the sport coming into its own the sport of eSports, which is many sports as you know So it's even more exciting It's almost like being there at the birth of the Olympics some group of people are doing the marathon and other people are Throwing the javelin and other people are swimming it's so exciting to see and of course it's such a rich landscape for storytelling the Landscape is just desperately waiting for a Michael Jordan type figure to arrive on it to be a global superstar personality wise and then you're going to see these explosions in the in the world of eSports in the years to come and we'll be able to look back and and Track its arrival and it's Soon to be dominance in the culture. Absolutely I mean you were talking about the Michael Jordan moment and I wonder where are we on the timeline of? Seeing that because I've been talking a week like, you know, you're Ronaldo's and the Messi's of this world. Are we coming back? They're coming. They're still coming. They're probably they're here. We can hear people roaring for them now I know I'm hearing the rules and it actually I'm like, is there a football match? Yes, exactly. It's exciting. Listen, it's gonna come It's not we can't say tomorrow, but it's it's likely the day after tomorrow It's definitely the infrastructures here. This is a perfect example I'll use a different sport for baseball field of dreams if you build it They will come well the Saudi government and the Saudi people have built it and it's the eSports World Cup and everybody's coming And so you're gonna have your breakout moments. You're gonna have your figures once you have one you're gonna have many of them We already do have them is is is an argument that We who make level up would argue you see in our series these larger-than-life figures that who once again are defying the cliche of what a gamer is and who are Ready to take the world stage as larger-than-life personalities. Tell me about the significance of the Saudis Coming in and taking all the big games that would have tournaments on their own Bringing them all together in Saudi Arabia to create the eSports World Cup Well, what strikes me about the Saudi involvement is is how all in? Everything is I mean, they basically built a gaming city here with multiple arenas and they've committed to this being a worldwide annual event that is going to gather The the greatest players in the world we can hear people cheering for them to compete for an increasingly Growing pool of prizes every year. I mean it was 60 million dollars last year in prizes 70 million dollars this year this year They've added a number of different games including chess Magnus Carlsen is here competing a year. You're at the cutting edge and it's quite amazing

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