Saudi Arabia announces pro e-sports league

The Saudi Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports has launched the Saudi Electronic League 2020.

It will bring together some of The Kingdom’s finest gamers for a tournaments worth more than two million Saudi riyals (just over US$500,000).

It is thought the league will involve three tournaments across three different games. The first, the Saudi Dota 2 league, will involve eight of Saudi Arabia’s professional e-sports teams playing the strategy game Defence Of The Ancients 2.

The league will be available to watch for free via the Saudi Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports Twitch and YouTube platforms, and there will be competitions for those who watch along with the action live.

The second and third tournaments are yet to be announced (but we’ll go out on a limb and say that FIFA will probably one of them, given the game’s popularity in The Kingdom).

The league itself will span from today, October 9 to December 31. According to the chairman of the board of director of the Saudi Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the general idea is to increase the number of professional gamers in the country.

The tournament should bring likeminded gamers together, as well as inspire a new generation of gamers,

In other news, EA has said its award-winning Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is coming back, being remastered for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

The game will land ten years after it was first released, during the fast franchise’s heyday. The new version lets players drive a variety of supercars and police cars in the fictional Seacrest County. The game was celebrated for its gameplay, as well as gripping single player campaign.

Want to play something a little less competitive? Here are our top 5 games for making friends online:

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