Latest news with #SavvyGamesGroup
Arab News
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Top team to be crowned at ESL Saudi Challenge grand final
RIYADH: The ESL Saudi Challenge 2025 reaches a thrilling climax this Friday at VOV Gaming in Riyadh, where Saudi Arabia's top Overwatch 2 teams are set to battle for regional supremacy and a place on the global stage. The high-stakes tournament will see Team Vision take on Al-Qadsiah in a best-of-five showdown, with the winner advancing to face reigning champions Twisted Minds in a best-of-seven grand final. With qualification for the Overwatch Champions Series and the Esports World Cup at stake, the event is being hailed as a defining moment for the Kingdom's esports scene. This year's ESL Saudi Challenge is playing a crucial role in Saudi Arabia's evolving esports ecosystem. More than just a tournament, it serves as a direct pathway to international competition while highlighting the rising caliber of local talent. Organized by ESL FACEIT Group, the world's leading esports and video game entertainment company, the tournament reflects the Kingdom's broader ambitions to become a global gaming hub. EFG was acquired in 2022 by Savvy Games Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, in a $1.5 billion deal aimed at accelerating the growth of esports in the region. The ESL Saudi Challenge is a key pillar in that strategy, with EFG also serving as the main operating partner for the Esports World Cup over the next five years. The group's involvement marks a long-term vision to build a world-class esports infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and provide new opportunities for players, fans and creators alike. Viewers can tune in to the action live on ESL Arabia's official channels across X, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. As anticipation builds for Friday's final, the event promises not only elite-level Overwatch 2 gameplay, but a powerful statement of intent from a nation rapidly becoming a leader in global esports.
Arab News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
ESL Saudi Challenge 2025 offers Saudi teams shot at Esports World Cup glory
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's burgeoning esports scene takes another significant step forward as the ESL Saudi Challenge 2025 kicks off, spotlighting the Kingdom's top Overwatch 2 talent and offering a direct path to the Esports World Cup. Organized by ESL FACEIT Group, a Savvy Games Group company, the tournament features eight elite Saudi teams battling for a share of the $20,000 prize pool. But more than just the money is on the line — the winning team will earn a coveted spot in the Overwatch Champions Series, a premier international circuit that feeds into the EWC. 'The ESL Saudi Challenge is more than just a local tournament; it's a strategic platform that offers players a genuine opportunity to reach the global stage,' said Franck Guignery, senior vice president of Middle East and North Africa at ESL FACEIT Group. 'As an official operating partner of the EWC, ESL FACEIT Group is committed to building professional pathways and empowering local talent to represent Saudi Arabia in the international esports scene.' The initiative is closely aligned with Saudi Arabia's national strategy to develop a sustainable esports ecosystem and position the Kingdom as a global hub for competitive gaming. This year's tournament will culminate with the grand final on May 30 at VOV Gaming in Riyadh, where the top three teams from the May 13–16 playoffs will compete live in front of a home crowd. With high stakes and international exposure on offer, the ESL Saudi Challenge has become a proving ground for players looking to make the leap from national heroes to global contenders.
Arab News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Spotify, EA Sports test in-game music integration in Saudi Arabia
LONDON: Spotify and EA Sports have launched a pilot project that allows players to link their Spotify accounts directly with the EA Sports FC 25 video game. The feature is being rolled out in Saudi Arabia and selected other markets. The project, which was announced on Thursday, enables Spotify Premium users to log in via a new tab in the main game menu and control music playback during gameplay, including during team selection or from the pause menu. The Swedish music platform said the partnership aimed at offering players more control over their in-game audio. It said: 'Long seen as the perfect companion to gaming, music boosts focus, amplifies adrenaline, and heightens the emotional highs of every match. 'Through this collaboration, players can now curate their perfect in-game soundtrack, listening to the artists they love.' Podcast access and curated playlists will also be available. The feature is currently accessible to Premium users playing EA Sports FC 25 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in Saudi Arabia and Australia. The Kingdom has become a growing market for gaming and electronic sports, driven by a young and tech-savvy population. Gaming now plays a prominent role in the Kingdom's Vision 2030 diversification strategy, with plans for the sector to contribute more than $13 billion to the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs, according to Savvy Games Group. Riyadh hosted the inaugural Esports World Cup last summer, a large-scale tournament featuring 23 events across major titles including Fortnite, Call of Duty, and EA Sports FC, with a record-setting prize pool of $62.5 million.
South China Morning Post
20-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Tencent-backed Hero Esports leverages AI in bid to become global leader
Hero Esports, a Chinese esports powerhouse backed by Tencent Holdings and Saudi Arabian video-gaming giant Savvy Games Group, is betting big on artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline operations and become a global leader industry, the CEO said in an interview. Advertisement 'We are pilot-testing several AI models, including DeepSeek , in all aspects of the business,' said Danny Tang, co-founder and CEO of Hero Esports. The company is also adapting a local version of DeepSeek to analyse patents and historical contracts to identify areas that might 'require more attention', she said. The company's adoption of AI ties into China's efforts to dominate the global video-gaming arena. Over the past couple of decades, the sector has transformed into a cultural and economic juggernaut. Hero Esports co-founder and CEO Danny Tang. Photo: Handout Tang said one goal of AI adoption is to free up time for the team of around 1,200 to focus on more creative work. Hero Esports has developed its own AI toolkit to streamline various production workflows such as setting timelines, automating camera work and creating highlight reels. Advertisement
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
An Amazing Steam Sale, A Major Pokémon Go Development, And More Of The Week's Top News
This week saw Pokémon Go become the property of the Saudi government as Scopely, the mobile game maker owned by Savvy Games Group which itself was founded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, acquired POGO developer Niantic for the tidy sum of $3.5 billion. In other news, Steam has launched one of its best sales in years, full of massive discounts on great games, and as Battlefield 6 leaks emerge, hype only seems to be increasing for what looks to be a return to the modern combat glory days of the series' most beloved entries. Read on for these stories and more. One of the defining games of the last decade, Pokémon Go, now belongs to the Saudi Arabia government. Mobile game maker Scopely, which is owned by the Saudi royal investment fund, announced its purchase of the hit game along with the rest of Niantic Labs game business for $3.5 billion. The sale comes after the tech company failed to create any more hits on the scale of Pokémon Go. - Ethan Gach Read More Right now some of the best games available on Steam, including Undertale, Doom (2016), and Spiritfarer are all on sale for incredibly cheap prices. Combine that with Steam's annual Spring Sale and you have a recipe for some fantastic discounts. - Zack Zwiezen Read More ZA/UM Studio, the entity which at one point released Disco Elysium, a critically acclaimed detective RPG about navigating the ruins of capitalism and solving a murder, has finally revealed its next game nearly six years later. Instead of Disco Elysium 2, it's a spy RPG still mostly shrouded in secrecy called Project[C4], and one big question facing it is whether it will bear any resemblance to the studio's previous work after years of internal upheaval and tumult. - Ethan Gach Read More The next Battlefield game—referred to unofficially as Battlefield 6—is currently holding an early beta and despite players having to sign an NDA to participate, footage has leaked online. Encouragingly, the reactions are overwhelmingly positive as players seem excited about new features, details, and the return to the modern combat seen in past entries. - Zack Zwiezen Read More Another month, another bunch of games is joining the catalogs for PlayStation Plus' Extra and Premium tiers. This time around, fans of arcades, punching people, 2D platformers, and retro robot warfare should all be very excited. - Zack Zwiezen Read More Occasionally the stars align and a once-in-a-generation group of creatives come together to make something spectacular and ahead of its time. That's how Chrono Trigger was made, an RPG for the SNES that came out 30 years ago this week and still blows me away. Playing it was a formative gaming moment for me and one I'm grateful to have experienced firsthand. - Ethan Gach Read More Hunts in Monster Hunter Wilds can take anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour depending on the level of difficulty and how geared up the player is. But a recent discovery makes it technically possible to clear a hunt in just two seconds. Fans are having fun with the exploit despite it not actually saving them any time. Let me explain. - Ethan Gach Read More The long-rumored Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake, which Kotaku confirmed was real in January, reportedly might be announced very soon and could launch as early as next month. - Zack Zwiezen Read More The Dungeons & Dragons community is extremely skeptical of generative AI, and publisher Wizards of the Coast has come under fire in the past for using AI art in material for its games. But the CEO in charge of the D&D and Magic: The Gathering maker continues to sound like he's all in on the technology, recently calling himself 'an AI bull' and speculating about how it could be used for D&D subscription services. - Ethan Gach Read More Earlier this week, a Mountain Dew collector shared some sad news with the Mountain Dew subreddit: A huge chunk of his collection of sodas was ruined by a single leaky can. After he shared photos depicting the aftermath of the leak, which damaged a wall and destroyed 60 cans of Mountain Dew Thrashed Apple, a discontinued and sought-after variant, I reached out to the collector about the situation. - Zack Zwiezen Read More For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
