EWC welcomes VALORANT titans, LPL champs, and more new partner orgs for 2025

Sentinels, Bilibili, and Gentle Mates are among the new esports organizations joining the Esports World Cup’s EWCF Club Partner Program, bringing the total to 40 teams for this year’s competition.

The EWCF and its seemingly never-ending flow of money helps organizations by contributing to the partner members’ “financial stability and brand growth,” with this year’s additions focusing on “fueling global fan growth across all borders and games through impactful storytelling and creative campaigns.”

“The $20 million program offers participating Clubs up to $1 million in funding to expand their brand and grow their global audience through innovative content and marketing campaigns leading up to and throughout the Esports World Cup 2025,” EWC said in its statement.

This year’s additional clubs feature an influx of China’s top teams, adding orgs such as All Gamers, Bilibili Gaming, Edward Gaming, JD Gaming, Weibo Gaming, and Wolves Esports to the field, along with North American favorites and VALORANT stalwarts Sentinels joining.

“As one of the fastest growing esports organizations in North America, we are delighted to join the EWCF Club Partner Program,” said Rob Moore, CEO of Sentinels. “Continuing the momentum of our success in 2024, including a major win in VALORANT and significant growth across our social channels reaching millions of fans in North America and beyond, the addition of VALORANT to the Esports World Cup is the perfect time for us to become an official partner and deliver new and exciting content to an even wider audience.”

A total of 24 games have been announced for this year’s games, which will take place again in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this summer, with one game still yet to be announced. The field of games includes League of Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone, Overwatch 2, Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, PUBG Battlegrounds, and Rocket League, among others.

“The EWCF Club Partner Program is a cornerstone of our mission to build a sustainable future for esports Clubs worldwide while creating opportunities for organizations from some of the world’s fastest-growing markets”, said Faisal Bin Homran, chief product officer at the Esports World Cup Foundation. He went on to praise how diverse the 40 partnered organizations were, spanning the globe in location and offering up legacies in several different games. Bin Homran expressed his belief that the EWC investing in esports orgs would only help strengthen and expand these esports orgs going into the future—with the hope that these games could one day become “mainstream entertainment.”

With a gargantuan prize pool and even more financial incentive with the EWCF Club Partner Program, it’s likely that the event’s growth will only continue over the foreseeable future with a lot of revenue to get a hold of from teams around the globe. It’s not without its controversies, however, as many fans still disapprove of their favorite orgs joining the Saudi-backed competition due to the country’s policies and culture surrounding women, the LGBTQIA+ community, and more. Still, it appears that backlash has not been a deterrent for teams signing up to get a piece of the proverbial cash pie.

This year’s EWC will take place in July and August in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.