The 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC) is drawing closer, and the event’s stakes may be higher than ever with a new 70 million USD prize pool that breaks its own record. Here’s everything we know about the 2025 EWC prize pool, how it compares to previous esports record-holders, how it will be divided and more.
What is the Esports World Cup?
The 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC), which will take place from July 7 to August 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is one of the year’s largest esports events. The competition will include 25 tournaments in 24 games and a club program that pits over 40 teams against each other to measure esports skill across all titles.
Esports World Cup states in a press release:
“The Esports World Cup 2025 will once again unite gaming and esports communities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a global competition that will crown the next Esports World Cup Champion. The tournament’s unique cross-game format will reward Clubs and players competing for a life-changing prize pool across a mix of platforms and genres, bringing together esports’ best teams, players and games under one banner in the largest-ever celebration of esports. “
2025 EWC: Big Prize Pool Potential
On April 10 2025, the Esports World Cup announced its prize pool for this year’s competition: the total amounts to 70 million USD, meaning the EWC has the largest prize in esports history. This number also breaks the EWC’s 60 million USD record at its debut event in 2024.
Before the EWC began, Valve’s DOTA 2 ‘The International’ (TI) world championship held the record for several years, culminating with a 40 million USD prize pool in 2021. Epic Games Battle Royale Fortnite also received a 100 million USD investment towards esports prize money from Epic Games during its first season in 2018; however, the EWC’s current record remains, as the Fortnite sum was divided between multiple competitions.
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Where Will the Prize Pool Go?
The 2025 EWC’s 70 million USD total prize pool will be divided between club teams, individual event winners and high-performing MVP players. 27 million USD will go to “the top 16 Clubs based on their overall performance,” with the top overall club receiving 7 million USD. Over 38 million USD will go towards each individual title’s championship, and 450,000 USD will be distributed to MVP players.
The Esports World Cup’s prize pool expansion arrives in tandem with the organization’s new business relationships:
“Along with the increased prize pool, EWCF is expanding its support for the entire esports industry through a number of partnerships with other leagues and competitions. Recent agreements with the likes of Riot Games, Activision and Capcom will see the EWCF support external competitions with resources that further help stability of esports circuits and the industry as a whole, while increasing the pathways for players to reach the Esports World Cup each year. “
