As it has now become known, a large and apparently luxurious event for the online shooter Fortnite is planned in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Several prominent Twitch streamers from the USA have been approached for this. But they probably will not fly. Some have reservations, while others like the streamer Mizkif fear it could cost them their existence.
This is the situation:
- Countries like Saudi Arabia or Qatar have made a lot of money by promoting oil for decades but see the end of this era approaching. Therefore, they are trying to invest in innovative projects and become globally trendy “leisure and sports” locations. Qatar, for example, has been awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia plans to become a “gaming mecca”.
- In the West, these countries are viewed critically: among other reasons, because there are significant human rights restrictions. Again and again, one hears horror stories about how guest workers or women are treated there.
- Now it has emerged that a tournament for Fortnite is planned for the summer of 2022. The organizers apparently wanted to have high-profile gaming streamers promote their event. However, the organizers are apparently having trouble finding people to promote their event.
Huge event worth tens of millions of US dollars seems to interest hardly anyone
What kind of event is this? The event has been announced for a long time, but it has not really interested many people so far:
- The event is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the summer of 2022
- It involves a total prize pool of 15 million US dollars – 2 million US dollars is planned for the Fortnite part
- The format will be “Duo Zero Build”
On their Twitter channel, the organizers “Gamers without Borders” post among other things interviews with “His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan”, the President of the Saudi Arabian E-Sports Federation – but only receive 1 retweet and 6 likes for it.
On YouTube, the video has only 146 views.
As early as the end of April, the event was discussed on Reddit:
Epic makes it clear: Has nothing to do with us
This was Epic’s reaction: Epic distanced itself somewhat from the event on Reddit. They apparently already sensed how sensitive this could become.
A community manager made it clear: The event is neither sponsored by Epic Games nor supported or managed by them.
Tournament apparently wants to pay a lot of money for US Twitch stars
How did the public learn about the event? A wider audience learned about the event through the Twitch streamer Pokelawls:
- He stated in a Twitch stream that he received an official offer to fly to Saudi Arabia for 4 days to play Fortnite there.
- He explained that in order to promote this event, he was supposed to write “3 Twitter posts, 3 Instagram stories, 2 Instagram feed posts, and one YouTube post.”
- The message also mentioned that the streamers “Mikif and Emiru” had already agreed, two big Twitch streamers. However, Pokelawls indicated that he would definitely not fly there.
Pokelawls does not specify that it is exactly this event from which Epic distanced itself – but it is very likely.
It is not entirely clear how the streamer was to be compensated for his participation. However, it can be assumed that in addition to luxurious accommodation, sums exceeding $100,000 are paid for such promotional deals.
“Why does everyone say Saudi Arabia is evil?”
This was Mizkif’s reaction: The streamer Mizkif was then confronted with the fact that he had agreed to fly there. This is at least implied in Pokelawls’ Twitch stream.
However, it was apparently not clear at all why this might be sensitive. He said he thought it was a problem-free charity event:
Why does everyone say Saudi Arabia is evil? What is wrong with Saudi Arabia? I thought it was for a good cause. Why is everyone mad at me now – am I being canceled? What is going on? I thought it would be cool and fun!
After he informed himself more closely with the help of political streamer HasanAbi about how problematic the partnership is, Mizkif eventually canceled the event after HasanAbi explained to him among other things that there is genocide occurring from Saudi Arabia.
Mizkif could be seen live as he informed himself about Saudi Arabia:
This is how Mizkif’s change of mind unfolded: It is both sad and somewhat surreal to watch HasanAbi explain the basic outlines of what is happening in Saudi Arabia to the completely uninformed Mizkif.
During HasanAbi’s talk, it became increasingly clear to him how terrible it all is and that he absolutely cannot fly there.
In the end, he sighs resignedly: He just wanted to meet Tfue.
Mizkif ultimately states: He had agreed to the event a month ago. Perhaps he should research better in the future about who is making him offers.
How sensitive deals with Saudi Arabia are was something that the LoL league LEC had to experience: Their own employees turned against them within a few hours:
LoL league unleashes PR nightmare, has to retract everything after 14 hours
