Disgusting…
So basically some wealthy Saudis are paying prizes that amount to pocket change for them in hopes that cool trendy gamer kids will show up and make everyone forget all those pesky human rights violations
E-sportswashing
Do they behead you if you make a game character of a different gender?
Sporting events are hosted in oppressive countries all the time. Olympics and World Cup have been hosted by both CCP and Russia in recent memory.
So I’ll throw a little info into the ring. The dota2 community knows the recent riyadh masters tournament for $15mil was sports washing. However we also understand that money is money and don’t hold it against any of the orgs or players. The best case scenario for hope is by doing this we get to experience the good parts of their culture and they get to see the good parts of western culture. Maybe it’ll eventually lead to better human rights in these regions. Worst case scenario is nothing changes which would make me sad personally
No, the worst case scenario is that the sports washing works, and the poor human rights in that area get worse because it will set the precedent that no one actually cares what they do over there as long as enough money changes hands
Yeah that’s what I meant by nothing changes, really hope it does change
Gamers are the group I expect to care that least about whatever is going on as long as they can play a game. On reddit too so few of them were even willing to protest use of a subreddit which is the most low effort thing.
I think it’s more appropriate to say
Dotagamer community doesn’t care.
Feels like it may turn out a bit like Epic Store vs Steam situation. One has a lot of money to offer to people to get them to come there - but not any actual infrastructural investment to get them to stay.
In the end, money is no substitute for ingenuity and honest community. I’m sure people will go, I mean it’s a huge prize pool, but in a potential future where SA no longer has oil money…I don’t think they’re going back.
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