Esports World Cup 2025 to feature record-breaking $70m+ prize pool

The 2025 edition of the annual esports event Esports World Cup will feature its largest prize pool yet, with over $70 million up for grabs.

This marks a $10m increase from 2024’s prize pool, with $27m to be spread across the top 16 clubs. This year’s winner will earn $7m, the same as last year’s Club Championship victor, Team Falcons.

A total of 25 tournaments in 24 games have been confirmed thus far with four new games on board: Valorant, Chess, Crossfire and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Over 2,000 players and 200 clubs are expected to compete.

Returning titles include Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Garena Free Fire, Honor of Kings and League of Legends.

Record-breaking stakes

The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) previously unveiled that it has partnered with Tencent this year and that the Esports World Cup will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Now, dates have been confirmed as July 7th to August 24th with "the highest stakes in esports history".

While $27m is to be allocated to the 16 top-performing clubs in the Club Championships, the remainder of the prize pool will be divided into Game Championships, the MVP Awards and Qualifiers on the Road to EWC categories.

Game Championships are set to receive the biggest share of that remainder with over $38m allocated.

Qualifiers on the Road to EWC will have a $5m share to award to players while the MVP Awards will allocate its $450,000 pool to "standout participants".

"The record-breaking $70m plus prize pool, along with our commitment to the Club Partner Program and our multi-year publisher agreements, is a privilege to announce and validation of our purpose to elevate the industry, by giving players, clubs, publishers and all other stakeholders the stability needed to invest for future success," said EWCF CEO Ralf Reichert.

"While more than $70m is an incredible, life-changing sum, it’s always aligned with a long-term vision rather than short-term impact. It’s not just to have more money at stake, but to create opportunities for everyone at every level of the ecosystem and strengthen the industry for generations to come."