How the 2025 EWC is revitalising the esports industry

The 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC) drew more than three million visitors to Boulevard Riyadh City in Saudi Arabia, as well as roughly 2,500 players and staff. These visitors comprised at least 89 nationalities, with 2,000 of the industry’s most dedicated club fans from 66 countries taking part. Was it worth the visit? The EWC more than lived up to the hype, with fans flooding the eight festival venues and four esports arenas in the area. Given the great success of the second annual event, how is the world of esports faring across the world? In this article, we’ll review the state of the world of esports after the 2025 EWC.

2025 Esports World Cup

The 2025 Esports World Cup was the second iteration of the annual event. It debuted last year, attracting modest viewer numbers in most of its categories. This year’s show was hugely successful, with millions more viewers tuning in when compared to the 2024 event. Some of the events more than doubled in viewership, with the PUBG Mobile World Cup attracting 1.3 million viewers at its peak. That’s a 145% increase from last year (566,118). The PUBG PC event, MLBB Women’s Invitational 2025, Rainbow Six Siege X Cup, Apex Legends Midseason Playoffs, and Honor of Kings World Cup all received a significant influx of players compared to last year, as did the vast majority of the show’s other events. The latter became Honor of Kings’ most-watched tournament in history.

Coming off the back of such a successful event, what do esports fans have to look forward to? Let’s take a closer look at the state of the world of esports post-EWC.

Increase in fans

First and foremost, many esports games and events are already experiencing increased activity. Fans are eager to discuss the show’s successes and experience some of the games themselves. We think that this is likely to continue, especially if the EWC continues to reach a solid viewership in the coming years. Now is a great time to dive into the world of esports, with some publishers offering celebratory promotions, including some of the best online slots in the industry.

In addition to an increase in fans actually engaging with the games in question and playing for themselves, established clubs also found themselves with more interest than ever before. Big names such as Team Falcons and Team Vitality had unprecedented support leading up to the EWC and are still riding high after their respective victories at the show.

Boost in international interest

In addition to increased fan participation in specific games, the success of the EWC demonstrated growing international interest in the industry in general. Thousands of websites and networks located all around the world reported on the event. This is persisting even after the event, with many of those same websites and networks discussing not only the show’s triumphs, but also the future activity of the most popular players and sports.

It’s important to note here that the EWC marks a new era of esports that transcends national boundaries and appeals to people across the globe from all walks of life. Instead of focusing on relatively smaller, local events prioritising local teams, the EWC is fostering a new dedication to large-scale, multi-national games focused on national representation.

Rise in mobile gaming

While most sports at the EWC experienced an increase in viewership from last year’s event, mobile gaming as a whole boasted some of the show’s biggest events. From wildly popular tournaments to exciting game announcements and everything in between, mobile gaming was a huge winner this year. This helps to drive even more fans to mobile games, in particular, even in markets where access to smartphones and devices is more limited than in the West.

Thanks to the rousing success of mobile gaming, we expect to see renewed efforts both in expanding the number of titles available and revamping existing titles with new content and design.

Did you tune in to the 2025 EWC? From staggering in-person attendees to incredible numbers of online viewers, the event was an incredible success. We can’t wait to see what’s next for the industry!