Jona “Just Johnny” Schmitt has been one of the leading German casters for League of Legends for years. He has criticized the decision by Riot Games to commit to Saudi Arabia for 3 years in a series of tweets. Their games League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Valorant will be held there as tournaments as part of the Esports World Cup. In 2020, such a decision caused an uproar in LoL, but today it remains calm.
This is the decision of Riot Games: Previously, such news caused unrest in the community. This year, it remained almost without reaction. On February 10, Riot Games announced (via riotgames):
League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Valorant will be part of the Esports World Cup. They are granting the Cup a license for the games for the next 3 years and will also promote the competitions.
As justification, they state that they had good experiences with the competition last year and received positive feedback from teams. The prize money seems to be appealing to clubs and players.
Riot acknowledges in a passing remark that there might be some trouble:
We know that some of you do not agree with our decision to work with the EWC in this way, and we respect that.
Disclaimer: Webedia, the parent company of MeinMMO, is also active in Saudi Arabia and operates the portal saudigamer.com there.
Esports World Cup under the patronage of Prince Mohammed bin Salman
What is the EWC event? The Esports World Cup (EWC) is an event in Saudi Arabia. It takes place in Riyadh. In 2024, 23 events were held in 22 games. The total prize pool was $62.5 million.
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, led the victory ceremony on August 25 (via saudi-press-agency).
strongmanin Saudi Arabia but is viewed critically in terms of human rights. The CIA believes that Bin Salman ordered the assassination of his critic, Jamal Khashoggi (via washingtonpost).
For those who would like to know more about him, we recommend this article on tagesschau.de:
Modernizer and despot
It breaks my fucking heart
What does Just Johnny say? The German caster Just Johnny states in a series of tweets on February 14:
I know it’s Valentine’s Day, but I love esports and it breaks my fucking heart that this is being completely sold to Saudi Arabia. I have spent a third of my life working in esports and every day another domino falls in the wrong direction.
He elaborates that earlier in esports, money was handled recklessly and now everyone has given up the fight. Esports has the potential to be unifying, and one must constantly speak out against it when esports changes in the wrong direction.
What is the problem? The Esports World Cup takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, making it a political issue similar to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The values in Saudi Arabia, including how women and homosexuals are treated, cannot be reconciled with the values that Western esports teams or Riot Games otherwise uphold and promote.
Saudi Arabia has a strong interest in establishing itself as an esports center to boost tourism and improve the country’s image. This is referred to as sportswashing
, the attempt of a regime to gain a better image through sports or esports events.
It is therefore a difficult question for professional athletes and teams whether to participate in the events. Ultimately, it boils down to a decision:
- Should I take the money and prestige of such tournaments and support a system that I do not want to support in its values?
- Should I stay away from the events and oppose it? Am I true to myself, even though I gain nothing from it?
In 2020, there were such loud protests that a collaboration with Saudi Arabia was canceled
Why is this particularly tragic in this case? In 2020, the European league in LoL, the LEC, wanted to collaborate on a large project in Saudi Arabia. But at that time, their own employees, especially the casters, protested so loudly against it that Riot Games canceled the cooperation within just 14 hours.
In 2024, there was then an LoL event in Saudi Arabia, featuring the top stars of League of Legends and a large prize pool, but it hardly interested anyone because it was not heavily promoted.
In 2025, Riot Games will likely finally enter the collaboration with Saudi Arabia long-term. The resistance has faded.
First comes the feeding, then the morals
This is what it is about: JustJohnny is right with his sad analysis. Esports is now in such a poor state that Riot Games and the teams are “purposefully” engaging in this deal, which they might have rejected for moral reasons in better times. Just as they have also scaled back their rules regarding gambling.
Here the saying goes, “First comes the feeding, then the morals.”
This is also because the esports bubble has burst and the big advertising money in LoL is not going to the esports teams, but to the content creators.
The lack of protests against such decisions results from the systematic devaluation of the in-house casters who protested in 2020 by Riot Games, by relying on external casters, namely Twitch streamers.
Ultimately, Riot Games has managed to normalize quietly that they will collaborate with Saudi Arabia. What caused a huge uproar five years ago is now normal. This breaks JustJohnny’s “fucking heart,” but it is hardly an issue in the community – probably also because there is so much turmoil worldwide right now that there is barely any strength left for such ongoing conflicts.
That Saudi Arabia is willing to yield somewhat and address Western values was seen in a news report from July 2024: LoL: At an esports tournament in Saudi Arabia for a fairy tale prize pool, a team is now allowed to wear pride jerseys
