GeoGuessr community maps go dark in protest of EWC ties to human rights abuses
A group of GeoGuessr map creators have pulled their contributions from the game to protest its participation in the Esports World Cup 2025, calling the tournament "a sportswashing tool used by the government of Saudi Arabia to distract from and conceal its horrific human rights record." The protestors say the blackout will hold until the game's publisher, GeoGuessr AB, cancels its planned Last Chance Wildcard tournament at the EWC in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 21 to 27.
GeoGuessr is a browser game where players try to pinpoint locations using only Google Street View images, and it relies on community mapmakers to stay relevant. The blackout, which began on May 21, includes "dozens of creators and their maps, including a supermajority of the most popular competitively relevant world maps," according to a statement the group shared on Reddit. The removed maps have been played tens of millions of times.
One of the largest GeoGuessr communities, Plonk It, has also removed its Map Directory and shared the mapping community's open letter. That statement reads in full as follows:
We, the creators of a considerable share of GeoGuessr's most popular maps, have decided to make our maps unplayable in protest of GeoGuessr AB's decision to host a World Championship wildcard tourney at the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh.
The EWC is a sportswashing tool used by the government of Saudi Arabia to distract from and conceal its horrific human rights record.
Groups targeted by the government include women, LGBTQ people, apostates and atheists, political dissenters, migrant workers in the Kafala system, religious minorities, and many others. The subjugation of these groups is extensive and pervasive. Members of these groups are routinely subjected to discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and even public executions. These severe human rights violations are well-documented and indisputable.
By participating in the EWC, GeoGuessr is contributing to that sportswashing agenda, which is designed to take attention away from Saudi Arabia's human rights violations.
The GeoGuessr community is diverse and includes many members of groups that would be harshly persecuted were they to live in Saudi Arabia. In solidarity with those currently residing in Saudi Arabia while being subject to oppression, as well as members of the community who would feel and be unsafe attending the tournament in Riyadh, we have decided to black out our maps by replacing all their previous locations with random garbage locations, rendering them unplayable.
This blackout includes dozens of creators and their maps, including a supermajority of the most popular competitively relevant world maps. It will continue until we see action from GeoGuessr; specifically, we demand that GeoGuessr cancels its wildcard event in Saudi Arabia and commits to not hosting any events there as long as it continues its oppressive regime.
You don't play games with human rights.
Thank you for reading.
The GeoGuessr mapping community
We've hit up GeoGuessr AB for a comment on the blackout and will update this story as we hear back.
The EWC is a huge, multi-game event owned and operated by the Saudi government and held in the country's capital city. It's an evolution of the Gamers8 tournament and this year marks the second EWC-branded competition; it's due to take place in July and August with a total prize pool of $38 million, split among 24 games. Franchises participating in the 2025 event include Rocket League, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Overwatch, Dota 2, Valorant, Street Fighter 6, EA Sports FC and PUBG.
It's difficult to compete in esports without running into Savvy Games Group, the video game arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Alongside hosting the EWC, Savvy has financial stakes in Nexon (10.2 percent ownership), Electronic Arts (9 percent), Embracer Group (8.3 percent), Nintendo (7.5 percent), Capcom (5 percent) and Take-Two Interactive (6.8 percent as of 2023). Savvy also runs ESL FACEIT Group, which contains the Electronic Sports League, a longstanding and significant esports event company. The New York Times reported last year that the Saudi government plans to invest $38 billion in the video game industry by 2030.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long documented the abuses of the Saudi government. HRW describes Saudi Arabia's human rights record as "abysmal," and specifically calls out the PIF as a reputational whitewashing tool. Saudi authorities have been accused of sportswashing in traditional sports as well, specifically through the country's ownership of LIV Golf and Newcastle United FC.
In February, Riot Games — the operator of League of Legends, Valorant and Teamfight Tactics, and arguably the largest name in esports — signed a three-year deal with the Esports World Cup Foundation for an undisclosed sum. Riot defended the partnership, arguing that the resulting financial boon for players and the esports industry outweighed other concerns.
"We know some of you may not feel great about our decision to partner with the EWC in this way, and we respect that," Riot's statement read.
Though corporate support for the EWC remains strong, the GeoGuessr mapping community isn't alone in rejecting this year's tournament. Street Fighter 6 player Christopher Hancock, who plays as ChrisCCH for FlyQuest, recently declined his spot at EWC 2025. In a social media statement, Hancock said, "I gave this decision a lot of thought and ultimately decided that, due to the nature in which the event is funded and managed, I do not feel comfortable participating in it." He added that the partnership between the Capcom Pro Tour and the EWC effectively forced him to work with the Saudi-backed group.
"Choosing to not participate in any EWC qualifiers would effectively mean retirement from competing," Hancock said. "I find it regrettable that this event has become so deeply embedded in the [fighting game community], but I have not yet made a decision on whether I will stop competing in events associated to it altogether."
Alongside the GeoGuessr map blackout, the community protest added one new, short challenge to the game called How to Run A Dictatorship. It takes players through five locations around Riyadh, documenting the alleged government-sanctioned torture, kidnapping, imprisonment and oppression of women, LGBTQ people, religious minorities and political dissenters occurring in these places. The challenge takes just a few minutes, so feel free to experience it yourself.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Prosecutors Reveal New Details From Luigi Mangione's Alleged Notebook
The Manhattan District Attorney's office filed an 82-page document in their case against Luigi Mangione at the New York County Supreme Court on Wednesday. In the document they provided photographs of what they say are handwritten notes Mangione wrote in the months leading up to the assassination of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione, 27, is currently facing federal, New York state and Pennsylvania state charges for allegedly murdering Thompson last December. In the federal case, the government is currently pursuing the death penalty. 'If ever there were an open and shut case pointing to the defendant's guilt, this case is that case,' New York prosecutors say in their filing. 'Simply put, one would be hard pressed to find a case with such overwhelming evidence of guilt as the identity of the murderer and the premeditated nature of the assassination.' More from Rolling Stone Palm Springs Bombing Suspect Apparently Promoted Human Extinction Court Dismisses Lawsuit Claiming Lil Nas X Copied Instagram Posts Luigi Mangione Seeks to Dismiss State Murder Charges, Citing Double Jeopardy Prosecutors filed this as a response to Mangione's team omnibus request that the court dismiss the indictment of murder and terrorism on account of this being 'double jeopardy' because of the multiple prosecutions he's facing. The prosecutors suggested that Mangione use the one million dollars his supporters raised for him to 'hire new counsel' if the state and federal prosecutions were 'too much' for his attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo to handle. In the filing, the prosecutors used excerpts from a notebook they say Mangione used as a journal to plan Thompson's murder. The notebook was allegedly found on Mangione when he was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the shooting. A letter addressed to the 'Feds,' which has been previously shared widely — and controversially censored on Reddit – was also included in the filing. Friedman Agnifilo's motion to dismiss also seeks to suppress this notebook and the firearm found on Mangione, which his team claims was found in a warrantless search of his backpack. Judge Gregory Carro will rule on these motions on June 26. An entry from the notebook in question, dated Aug. 15, 2024, states the writer was in San Francisco for a month at the time. 'I finally feel confident about what I will do,' the entry says. 'The details are coming together. And I don't feel any doubt about whether it's right or justified. I'm glad — in a way — that I've procrastinated [because] it allowed me to learn more about UHC. [Indecipherable] would have been an unjustified catastrophe that would be perceived mostly as sick, but more importantly unhelpful. Would do nothing to spread awareness/improve people's lives.' The writer says they've been 'feeling foggy' and cannot write with 'speed, clarity and confidence' but that they want to write their ideas down. 'The target is insurance, it checks every box.' An entry on Oct. 22, 2024 calls the upcoming investor conference a 'windfall' and says it 'embodies everything wrong with our health system.' 'Most importantly — the message becomes self-evident,' reads the entry. 'The problem with most revolutionary acts is that the message is lost on normies.' The writer goes on to say 'Ted K.', presumably the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, made some 'good points on the future of humanity, but to make his point he indiscriminately mailbombs innocents.' 'By committing indiscriminate atrocities — he becomes a monster, which makes his ideas those of a monster, no matter how true. He crosses the line from revolutionary anarchist to terrorist — the worst thing a person can be.' As the entry continues, the writer talks about how rebelling against the 'deadly, greed-fueled health insurance cartel' shouldn't involve bombing the headquarters because that might make it seem like 'the unjustified anger of someone who simply got sick/had bad luck and took their frustration out on the insurance industry, while recklessly endangering countless employees.' The notebook entry states that, instead, killing 'the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention' would make the point 'self-evident.' The writer even suggests a headline for the news, 'Insurance CEO killed at annual investors conference' and says that when the public learns about investment bankers meeting to 'extract human life force for money' the discourse can 'focus on greed, on the event through reasonable acceptable discussion.' The entry also says the hit is a 'real blow to the company financials.' In the filing, prosecutors argue that the terrorism charges against Mangione are appropriate because they claim his intent was to 'violently broadcast a social and political message to the public at large.' Earlier in the week, Mangione's defense team filed a request that his bulletproof vest and hand shackles be removed while seated at the defense table at his next state court appearance on June 26, as they could influence the public to see him as guilty. They have not requested that his legs be unshackled, as a compromise. 'The authorities — both state and federal — have already prejudiced Mr. Mangione in the media more than virtually any defendant in recent memory,' writes Mangione's legal team, saying authorities are perpetuating 'a false narrative that Mr. Mangione is an unusual danger requiring extraordinary security measures.' Mangione's lawyers say they visit him nearly daily in a large open room, where he is unshackled and among dozens of people including young children visiting other inmates. They say he has never been cited for misconduct while incarcerated, is in the general population at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center and has been assigned to work detail. Additionally, his lawyers urged Judge Gregory Carro to allow Mangione to appear without the bulletproof vest he was required to wear at his February 21 state court appearance. 'To counsel's knowledge, there have been no threats to Mr. Mangione's safety,' writes his legal team, adding, 'and the only one wishing to execute him is the federal government.' Best of Rolling Stone Every Super Bowl Halftime Show, Ranked From Worst to Best The United States of Weed Gaming Levels Up
Buzz Feed
7 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
14 Stories About People Who Slept With Their Friend's Mom
I came accross this Reddit thread where u/keyjeyelpi asked "People who've had sex with their SO/ex/friend's parent, how the hell did you get to that point? What happened after?" Me being a nosy nelly had to, of course, read the stories. And they were JUICY. Here are the most scandalous ones about people who slept with their friend's mom: "A friend's mom, going through some tough times with her husband, 'accidentally' added one of our friends on Facebook. She started flirting with him, and eventually they hooked up. After this kept going on for a couple of months, the dude decided to tell his friend (her son) about it at his house. The son cried, they threw hands at each other, and everything was alright moments later. I don't really know what happened after that—I lost contact with both of them." "My brother's best friend from high school dated my mom in his 30s. She had my brother really young, when she was barely 15, so when his friend was in his 30s, she wasn't yet 50. I will always remember the night he found out. They fought, and my brother's friend left the house and got into his car. My brother followed him out and punched him in the head through the driver-side window. He managed to go through the window and still connect with enough force to knock him out cold." "In my late 20s, I had a friend in a small mountain town in the western U.S. His mom got separated and moved in with him. She was mildly flirtatious with me—no big deal. Not enough to raise any red flags. I changed jobs and moved to the city, 90 miles south. He came on weekends to party a few times—normal stuff. Then he came to the party and brought her. At her request, we had sex all night while he was passed out in the next room. Major violation of bro code by me, but she asked nicely. No surprise we weren't friends after that." "A friend of mine's mom basically hit on a number of us in the group, and sadly, it just became kind of a matter of time before one of us caved—and it eventually happened. He saw it coming. I feel bad for him. Recently divorced, mid-30s, hot mom, and a group of 18-year-olds. It wasn't me who did it." "I went over to apologize for divorcing her daughter. She was single and a habitual flirt who had divorced her husband after their marriage fell apart. I kinda got a vibe I could sleep with her, and when she answered the door wearing only a long T-shirt—even though she knew I was coming over— one thing led to another. She was a far better lay than my ex-wife. And that was it. Haven't spoken to her since." "I had sex with one of my best friend's moms. It was Thanksgiving, and I was driving her back home when she confessed that she hadn't had sex in years since she was a widow. I told her I hadn't had sex in months since I was moving. We talked a bit more, and we sorta flirted. Once we got to her house, she asked me to come inside, and we did the deed." "My coworker that I slept with set me up with her mom. This is kind of an awkward one. I helped a coworker move. After all was said and done, we had a drink and got to talking. She ended up going down on me, and we slept together a couple of times after. We eventually stopped and had almost no contact for about a year. I made a satirical post on Facebook about the dating pool being, quote, 'a pond of acid full of robot piranha with lava for piss,' and she messaged me saying her mom was looking for a guy. I figured, okay, screw it—why not? I like cougars. I started talking to her mom, we hit it off, and she asked me to come over. I had no idea my former coworker lived with her. So—awkward. After a couple of hours hanging out, her mom invited me into the bedroom. Still awkward. Next thing I know, I'm fucking her mom while she's out in the other room watching TV." "I went to a party with a friend who introduced me to a young lady a couple of years older than me. We kinda hit it off through conversation. She explained how she and my friend knew each other and how frequently he'd hang out at her house. She also explained how she and her mom basically lived alone because her dad was bedridden on a machine in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Long story short, she came home early one day to find that my friend was there, having relations with her mom. That pretty much ended our newly budding romance, and my friend is now heavy into the church." "My partner had sex with her friend's mom. This was years before we met, but the way she tells it is that she was basically propositioned by her friend's mom, who had never been with a woman and wanted to give it a go. My partner obliged and said that her friend's mom was cool with it, but realized she was definitely straight. They said goodbye, it never happened again, and her friend will never know." "I was flicking through a hookup app—might have been Tinder, maybe Badoo or Bumble, I can't remember. I didn't have a face photo on my profile, and I matched with someone nearby who also didn't have a photo up. She said she was living with someone, but it wasn't going anywhere, and she was looking for NSA hookups. I said that was all I wanted—just a new FWB. She dropped a pic, and I recognized her immediately. I play in a band, and sometimes a young guy fills in for us if someone can't make a gig. It was his mom. While I didn't know him that well, I still considered the guy a friend—and this was his mother. I'm in my late 20s, he's 17. She's in her late 40s. I explained that it might be a little awkward and that we knew each other, then told her who I was. She didn't seem to mind. She just said, 'Well, I can keep a secret as well as you can,' and sent me a bunch of nudes. That was it—I was in." "I had casual sex with one of my friend's moms and one of my guitar students' moms when I was in my early 20s. The friend's mom was a bit odd, and it only happened once. The friend doesn't know. His father had died recently, and his mom was lonely, and I was helping out with things around the house. Like many of the other stories here, we had a drink after working on some projects, and next thing you know—we're in the bedroom." "My friend, who was in his 20s, slept with our friend's mum, who was in her late 40s. She goes for young lads. She was a mother figure to me. Her son has never liked the guy since, and he told him never to do it again. It's not spoken of often. I think it's hilarious." "My ex-husband cheated on me with my mother. I question the same thing: how the hell did either of you ever think for one minute that was okay? They didn't think." And finally, "I went home with an older lady from a bar in college. Smoking hot. In the morning, I was looking at pictures on the wall and realized she was the mother of a girl I had dated briefly. She had been divorced for 5–6 years. They actually thought it was funny that they had both hooked up with me. I tried so hard for the threesome, but it never happened." How did you end up sleeping with your friend's mom or dad? Tell us in the comments or use the anonymous form below.
CNBC
10 hours ago
- CNBC
Serena Williams says winning the Australian Open while pregnant was her most important career moment: 'I don't know how I did that'
BERLIN — It was an impressive enough sporting feat when Serena Williams won a record 23rd Grand Slam singles title at the 2017 Australian Open, beating her sister Venus in the final. Soon after came a revelation: she had been pregnant at the time. "I don't know how I did that, honestly," Williams said at an event Wednesday, selecting the moment as the most important of her tennis career. It's been quite the career — after winning her first Grand Slam at the U.S. Open in 1999, Williams went on to become the only player to have achieved the "Golden Slam" — winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open and getting an Olympic gold medal — in both singles and doubles tennis. "I don't know what I was doing then, I was nine weeks pregnant ... I do remember not being able to run for a long time," Williams said at the SuperReturn private equity conference in Berlin. "I didn't tell anyone. I mean, Venus knew, and I still feel really bad about that, because a deep part of me feels like because we played each other in the final, I'm like, she must have known, and she must have felt some sort of deep heaviness to go even further and go all out. But she was only one of two people that knew." Early pregnancy symptoms can be intense as the body undergoes a huge transformation, with a surge in hormones often leading to fatigue, breathlessness and nausea. "I remember saying, I have to do a lot of aces, I have to do a lot of winners," Williams continued, referring to a point scored directly from a serve. "I can only play, like, four balls and I'm done." "I remember one time playing a long point against one player, and I couldn't breathe. And I'm like, How does she not see that I'm not able to breathe right now, and so I just intentionally lost the next point just to kind of try and get my energy back. But then I was like: Why am I playing this far pregnant? This is nuts." Williams, who has two daughters with investor and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, stepped back from professional tennis in 2022 to focus on her family. Sports stars such as cyclist Laura Kenny have spoken in recent years about the challenges of balancing an intense and physically demanding career with a desire to get pregnant, while tennis player Naomi Osaka has criticized public commentary that one must be sacrificed for the other. Williams now runs venture capital fund Serena Ventures, which has 40 portfolio companies. She told the packed audience of private equity professionals that the qualities that made her obsessed with winning in sports translated to a single-minded focus as an investor. "I do remember at one point, walking on the court at Wimbledon, and my partner at the time called me about a deal that we were trying to close," she recalled. "I was on Court One that day, and it's a really long walk. And I remember talking to her on the phone, and in the conversation, she's like ... How's your day going? I'm like: Well, I'm walking on the court right now. And she's just like: Are you kidding me? You have to get off the phone. I'm like, okay, it's fine. It's a long walk. I've done it before. So that's how intense, how intentional I am," Williams said. She noted that she looks for founders who are obsessive about being the best at what they do and changing the lives of people they want to impact. Her earliest investment was in the American football team Miami Dolphins in 2009, when she was the world's top-ranked female player. "We got so many bad articles about why we shouldn't be doing this. We need to just focus on tennis, and we need to not think about this," she said of the reaction from the media and sporting world at the time. "Now as an athlete, we're at the point where if you're only doing basketball or if you're only doing football, if you're only doing tennis, it's like, well, what else are you doing? So we gave people that platform to be like, it's okay. You can also be an entrepreneur, and you can do sport. You don't have to just stay in one lane, you know, and just do one thing."
