GeoGuessr Withdraws from Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia Amid Backlash

GeoGuessr has withdrawn from the Esports World Cup following a significant backlash from players and map creators over the event's controversial hosting in Saudi Arabia this summer.

GeoGuessr, a highly popular geography game with 85 million users, challenges players to identify their location from random spots around the world. The game offers extensive customization, allowing players to choose opponents, select specific maps, decide between urban or rural settings, and control movement options like panning, zooming, or remaining stationary (NMPZ). These features, along with a wide array of community-created maps, have cemented GeoGuessr's status as an esports favorite.

However, on May 22, Zemmip, representing a significant group of GeoGuessr's map creators, initiated a "blackout" by making their maps unplayable. This protest was in response to GeoGuessr's decision to host a World Championship wildcard tournament at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. Zemmip highlighted Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses against various groups, including women, the LGBTQ community, apostates, atheists, political dissenters, migrant workers, and religious minorities. These groups face discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and public executions, and Zemmip argued that GeoGuessr's participation in the EWC would contribute to Saudi Arabia's sportswashing efforts.

The blackout involved numerous creators and their maps, including the majority of the most popular competitive world maps. The protest would persist until GeoGuessr canceled its event in Saudi Arabia and pledged not to host future events there as long as the oppressive regime persists. The statement concluded with a powerful message: "You don't play games with human rights."

GeoGuessr has pulled out of the Esports World Cup after a backlash.

Following the blackout and confusion among fans on social media and the subreddit about the unavailable maps, GeoGuessr issued a statement on May 22. CEO and co-founder Daniel Antell announced the company's withdrawal from the EWC, citing community feedback. He emphasized that the initial decision was made with positive intentions to engage with the Middle Eastern community and promote GeoGuessr's mission of global exploration. However, the community's response made it clear that participating in the EWC was misaligned with GeoGuessr's values.

"We will not participate in the EWC," Antell's statement read. "When you tell us we’ve got it wrong, we take it seriously. That’s why we’ve made the decision to withdraw from participating in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. We will come back with information on how the wildcards will be distributed as soon as possible. Thank you for speaking up and sharing your thoughts."

The GeoGuessr subreddit celebrated the decision, with the top reply humorously noting, "Now that's a 5K," referring to the game's highest achievable score. Another user praised the community's unity and effectiveness in driving change.

Despite GeoGuessr's withdrawal, numerous other games and publishers, including Dota 2, Valorant, Apex Legends, League of Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Rainbow Six Siege, among others, are still set to participate in the Esports World Cup in July.

GeoGuessr's recent release on Steam faced initial criticism, debuting as the second-worst-rated game before improving to the seventh-worst. Players expressed frustration over missing features in the free-to-play version, such as the inability to play solo for practice, the presence of bots in amateur mode, and the lack of feature transfer from the browser version to Steam despite payment.