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Title: GeoGuessr pulls out of the Esports World Cup after a community protest

Date: Thu, 22 May 2025 15:11:38 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/geoguessr-pul...

The team behind GeoGuessr is withdrawing the location-guessing game from the
Esports World Cup (EWC) after fans protested its decision to participate in
the event. Community members pulled many popular custom maps from the game
after it emerged the game's publisher, GeoGuessr AB, was going to hold a
tournament at the EWC, which takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July.

Map creators who removed their community creations from GeoGuessr claimed
that the EWC is "a sportswashing tool used by the government of Saudi Arabia
to distract from and conceal its horrific human rights record." Many other
prominent game franchises will be featured at the event, including Call of
Duty, Overwatch, Rocket League, Street Fighter and EA Sports FC.

In a statement posted on X and Reddit, GeoGuessr AB CEO and co-founder Daniel
Antell said the community stated loud and clear that the decision to take
part in the EWC "does not align with what GeoGuessr stands for." As such, the
team is pulling out of the event.

Here is Antell's full statement:

Hi everyone,

IΓÇÖve seen your reactions over the past few days regarding our decision to
participate in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. When we made that decision,
it was with positive intentions. To engage with our community in the Middle
East and to spread GeoGuessrΓÇÖs core mission of let everyone Explore the
World.

Since Erland, Anton, and I founded GeoGuessr in 2013, weΓÇÖve always strived
to be a community-first game. Everyone here at the Stockholm office is a
passionate GeoGuessr fan, doing our best to build something meaningful, with
you and for you.

That said, you - our community - have made it clear that this decision does
not align with what GeoGuessr stands for.

So, when you tell us weΓÇÖve got it wrong we take it seriously. ThatΓÇÖs why
weΓÇÖve 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.

/Daniel

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/geoguessr-pul...
after-a-community-protest-151138984.html?src=rss

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