The gaming population in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iraq is more than that of France, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Firms such as W. Ventures have invested as much as $50 million to build infrastructure for esports in Dubai. With more than 100 million gamers in the region, events such as PubG championships are also being hosted in the Middle East.

Now, global player Riot Games has partnered with UAE-based esports organizer Calyx to launch the first-ever Intel Arabia Cup (IAC) for amateur gamers in Gulf countries and Iraq. The participants will go head to head for glory in top gaming titles such as VLORANT, League of Legends, and LOL: WildRift. The event will act as a qualifier for regional gamers to enter international tournaments, where they’ll get to compete with and learn from the world’s best.

The tournament is part of the Road to VRL and Road to Prestige programs, which act as bridges to reach higher divisions. The IAC will continue for two seasons and offers total prize money of $30,000, with gamers winning at VALORANT and collecting the highest number of points. The tournament will be streamed on multiple platforms, including Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook, alongside play.calyx.gg.