Initial lineup for $4 million Riyadh Masters 2022 revealed

Gamers8 Esports revealed the initial lineup for Riyadh Masters 2022, a Dota 2 tournament with a $4 million prize pool. The event will be held live at Esports & Elite Zone – Boulevard in Saudi Arabia on July 20-24th. 

Riyadh Masters 2022 will feature 10 teams, seven of which received direct invites, while three qualified via Gamers Without Borders 2022 gaming festival that held a Dota 2 competition earlier this year. The squads that received invites include Tundra Esports, OG, Team Spirit, Team Secret and PSG.LGD, while the other two teams will be revealed soon. 

 

Gamers Without Borders 2022 was a gaming festival that featured competitions in six disciplines including Dota 2. The competition was divided by regions and each winner earned a slot in Riyadh Masters 2022. The champions of Europe are Team Liquid, while the Asian region was conquered by Royal Never Give Up and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by Deboosters.

The format of Riyadh Masters 2022 hasn’t been fully revealed yet, however, what we do know is that the group stage will feature two groups of five teams with all matches in a best-of-two format. The playoff series will then feature all matches in a best-of-three format. 

Biggest prize pool apart from TI

There has been lot of discussion around Riyadh Masters 2022 exceptional prize pool. First, it’s unknown how it will be distributed among the teams, and secondly, it is the highest amount of prize money in Dota 2 tournaments after The International series organized by Valve. When it comes to prize money, Riyadh Masters 2022 has also overtaken Six Invitational 2022, PMGC 2021 and other major esports events.

Overall $15 million prize pool for the tournament series 

Riyadh Masters is not the only tournament that Gamers8 Esports is hosting this summer. Apart from Dota 2, the organizer will hold competitions in Rocket League from July 14-17, in Fortnite from July 28-31, and in Rainbow Six Siege from August 14 -17, along with two PUBG Mobile tournaments. 

The first one will be PUBG Mobile World Invitational 2022 with 18 teams and a $2 million prize pool. The top five squads from this championship will then compete in the Afterparty Showdown planned on August 18-20 with $1 million as a reward. The overall prize pool for all Gamers8 announced tournaments will be $15 million and it generally seems to be an exciting tournament series. 

On the other side, the tournament organizer has been facing multiple obstacles. This includes backlash from the Rocket League community due to poor tournament management and lack of communication, as well as teams and talent refusing to participate in Gamers8 events due to the poor human rights record of the host nation, Saudi Arabia.

Header credit: AFK Gaming