The most popular strategy game in the world is officially an Esport, as it was announced early today that chess will be joining the roster of games for the upcoming Esports World Cup 2025.
The shocking news broke early today on the official website for the event, which detailed plenty of information surrounding how it will be integrated into the lineup. According to the post, the world’s top online chess players are to compete in Riyadh for a $1.5 million dollar prize pool.
On top of the massive prize pool, the chess competition will be hosted by none other than Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, one of the most renowned players in the world.
The Grandmaster himself had a comment to share about the announcement.
“I’m thrilled to see chess join some of the biggest games in the world at the Esports World Cup.
This partnership is an incredible opportunity to grow the game, by introducing chess to new audiences and inspiring the next generation of players. Being part of the esports family is an amazing opportunity for chess to broaden its reach to a massive group of esports fans.”
Alongside this being the first official acknowledgment of chess being an esport, this is also the first game that has been announced for the Esports World Cup 2025 that wasn’t previously a part of the event last year. You can see all the previously announced titles below:
- Honor of Kings
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Call of Duty Warzone
- Free Fire
- Street Fighter 6
- Rainbow Six Siege
- DOTA 2
- Counter-Strike 2
- PUBG Mobile
- Apex Legends
- Overwatch 2
- EA Sports FC 25
- Rocket League
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
The Esports World Cup 2025 is set to take place from June 2025 to August 2025 in Saudi Arabia. It is the second such instance of the event, replacing the Gamer8 Esports Festival from the Saudi Esports Federation, which started in 2022.
In total, 24 games will be announced for the event, meaning that there are only eight games left to be determined. The Esports World Cup 2025 features a $60 million prize pool, making it one of the largest in the world. For more information on the event, be sure to check back to Simulation Daily for updates.
