00:02After seven weeks, the eSports World Cup has wrapped up here in Paris, bringing together more than 2,000 players
00:08from over 100 countries.
00:10But it wasn't supposed to be here. The tournament moved from Riyadh amid the ongoing regional conflict.
00:16And it ended with a thriller.
00:18French player Gwen needed to finish third or better in the final Trackmania tournament to win the overall title for
00:25AGAL.
00:26Instead, he won the race, earning $130,000 and a $7 million payday for his team, while denying Team Falcons
00:35a third straight championship.
00:37French President Emmanuel Macron presented the Chinese club with the trophy, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also attending
00:45the closing ceremony.
00:46And Gwen wasn't the only one making history.
00:4919-year-old Viko and his 20-year-old teammate Malabuka won the Fortnite title and $260,000, becoming the
00:57first duo in the game's history to win back-to-back major tournaments.
01:01When I saw it's top two, I just decided to go for a power play, because in my eyes, it
01:06was either we go home or we go big. And we went big, we won, right?
01:11Across seven weeks, 175,000 tickets were sold, with 25 tournaments across 24 games and a record $75 million prize
01:20pool.
01:21Canceling was never really on the table. But while the situation in Saudi has always been very safe, the logistics
01:28of bringing in 2,000 players from over 100 different countries and 200 different clubs, it would have been irresponsible
01:34to do something that would affect their ability to come in.
01:37And for the French teams, Paris brought a different kind of home advantage. Team Vitality's women's Mobile Legends team successfully
01:45defended its title in the only all-women's tournament at this year's World Cup.
01:50Seeing the girls win again back-to-back is not an easy thing to do. But having the crowd there,
01:56our fans there, just showcased how much we are not only invested into Mobile Legends, but also invested into this
02:01team.
02:02And after an unexpected summer in Paris, the plan is to return to Saudi Arabia next year.
02:08Really, a new way of running esports is an entertainment event. We're going to take a lot of these learnings
02:14back to Riyadh and to the future events that we do.
02:17And the disruption to the esports calendar doesn't end here. The inaugural Esports Nations Cup, scheduled for Riyadh this November,
02:25has been postponed until next year.
02:27Adha Halim, Euronews, Paris.
02:32And there were some years that we played in Japan for our last year's W, Paris.
02:32But, be sure to have some tough questions, but as soon as we find out, we're not going to be
02:32like the next year's W.
